Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts
by Assassin master ezio 91
Summary: A phone call one night heralds the beginning of a chain of events that will soon test the bonds and ties of the Stark family; they soon find themselves facing drastic trials and various problems both from outer sources and within their own family. Will they find the strength to overcome these trials and remain a strong and loving family? Modern AU, pairings inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

First chapter of a new Game of Thrones modern AU, will hold three of my favourite pairings; Arya/Gendry, Bran/Meera and Rickon/Shireen. Other pairings include Robb/Jeyne Westerling, Sansa/Joffrey and Sansa/Willas. Word of warning, this story will contain some volumes of angst, if you don't like that sort of thing, best not to read as it gets pretty bad in some points. Other than that, enjoy :)

Just a note on ages for the important characters:

Robb, Jeyne W. and Margaery: 20  
Sansa, Jeyne P. and Joffrey: 18  
Arya: 16  
Gendry: 23  
Bran, Myrcella, Shireen and Jojen: 15  
Meera and Willas: 22  
Rickon and Tommen: 14

That should cover all the important ones, now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

It was a quiet evening in Stark manor, a little too quiet for Arya Stark's tastes. Arya Stark was the sixteen year old daughter of Senator Eddard Stark, who like many of his family before him, lived in the family manor at Winterfell, the largest city in Westeros' northern regions. Arya was the third child of Eddard Stark and his wife Catelyn Stark nee Tully; although sometimes she introduced herself as Catelyn Tully-Stark. She was also the youngest daughter with an older sister, an older brother and two younger brothers. Unlike the rest of her siblings who had inherited their looks from their mother, Arya took after her father. Right now she was sitting at a small desk, doing her homework, thinking ruefully she should try and get a similar desk for her own room. Instead she was stuck, trying to focus on her homework while being distracted by thoughts about the video game she had been playing last night.

'_I'm at the last level too, I just wanna play the game and finish it, but if I just leave this mom will flip.'_ She thought to herself; but it didn't stop her from being distracted.

Annoyed she pushed back the fringe of her light brown hair out of her grey eyes and tried, futilely to focus on her homework. On the other side of the room, her older sister eighteen year old Sansa Stark was seated in front of her vanity mirror, trying out new hairstyles and new looks with her make-up, taking after their mother Sansa was already rather beautiful, with long wavy red hair, blue eyes, pale skin and high cheek bones. Sansa was free as she had finished her homework hours ago, much to Arya's annoyance.

It was then the stillness of the night was shattered by the phone ringing. Sansa looked at Arya's reflection in her mirror.

"You get it." She said.

Arya scowled as she turned to her. "No way, I'm doing my homework, besides, you're nearer."

She pointed at the phone, lying on Sansa's bed, just behind Sansa.

Her sister shook her head. "No, you're not; you've been staring into space for like…half an hour. Unlike you, I'm occupied."

Arya rolled her eyes. "Of course you are, because trying to look like a clown is so important."

"Arya!" Sansa exclaimed, shocked at her sister's proclamation; it was true; unlike most girls Arya never wore make-up. Something Sansa couldn't understand, it would certainly help her sister draw more attention from boys.

To Sansa it just didn't seem right that, at sixteen, her sister was still single, never had a boyfriend, had never even been kissed, when all that happened to Sansa when she was fifteen.

Arya shook her head and gestured to the phone. "It'll be for you anyway, probably your asshole boyfriend, or your dumb friend with some stupid pointless gossip."

Sansa glared.

"Don't talk about Joffrey like that, you're just jealous and Jeyne isn't stupid."

Arya was about to reply when the phone stopped ringing, it had been answered.

Both girls stopped their arguing and listened; only one person could have answered the phone, their mother. Their older brother Robb was away at university, meanwhile their cousin Jon Snow had taken their youngest brother Rickon to football practice and their other younger brother, Bran was at his friend Jojen Reed's house, studying.

"Hello?" Their mother replied to the phone call; there was a moments silence, while the other person talked and then Catelyn spoke again. "Please, calm down, there's no need for…"

She stopped abruptly; presumably the other person had cut across her. Sansa and Arya shared a glance, they recognized their mother's tone of voice, it was one she reserved for people who were shouting on the phone. Finally, during an apparent lull in the shouting Catelyn spoke.

"There's no need for this, Walder, I'm sure we can work something out." She said, trying to reason with the man.

However it soon proved futile as Walder continued his tirade, finally, a long time later the phone call ended. Catelyn sighed as she put the phone down. It was then she realized her daughters standing there, watching her.

"Mum, did something happen?" Sansa asked, nervously.

Catelyn shook her head. "It's nothing to worry about just now girls. I will be telling everyone at dinner, so, until then."

They both nodded, knowing their mother wouldn't give anything else up. They turned and began to head back up the stairs when she called after them.

"No more fighting."

Both blushed, realizing they had been caught arguing and returned upstairs.

That night at dinner, the whole family were seated around the dinner table. Like Arya, their cousin Jon inherited the Stark features, brown hair and grey eyes, all the others took their hair and eye colour from their mother. Both Arya and Sansa are waiting tensely for their mother to say something about the phone call, finally she does.

"I got a phone call from Walder Frey today." She informs them. "It seems Robb has broken up with his daughter."

The effect of the revelation was like a ripple. Eddard Stark looked surprised at the news.

"Robb broke up with Roslin, why, she was such a nice girl."

Arya rolled her eyes, of course she was, when their parents were around, when they weren't Roslin looked down on the other family members with great disdain. She and Rickon never liked her and were both smirking at each other after hearing the news. Bran was surprised at the news, but not overly concerned, as far as he felt it was Robb's decision, they shouldn't be questioning it. Jon was indifferent, his mind on something else. Sansa however was worried, afraid even of retribution from the Frey's. She had heard rumours that they had strong ties to the mafia, what if they came after her family; she didn't want that to happen to them.

'_What was Robb thinking?'_ She fretted, jumping slightly as the phone rang again.

This time it was Eddard who went to answer it.

He picked up the phone and Sansa watched as he spoke for a while. Worried it was more bad news she was surprised when her father returned, smiling.

"Well, it looks like we might be getting some answers." He stated. "That was Robb; he's coming home for the weekend…He wasn't to introduce us to his new girlfriend."

They were all surprised, then conversation turned to Robb coming home, they all seemed excited at seeing him again. Catelyn smiled widely, she was truly looking forward to seeing her eldest again, and it would be interesting to meet his new girlfriend, the girl he broke up with Roslin Frey for. Soon afterwards dinner was finished and the family went their separate ways. As they headed upstairs Sansa turned to Arya and saw she was still grinning.

"Aren't you worried?" She asked.

Arya shook her head. "What's to worry about, Robb's coming home, we'll get to see him again."

Sansa shook her head. "The Frey's; what if they want revenge, what if they…"

Arya rolled her eyes.

"Oh don't tell me you believe those ridiculous rumours." She scoffed. "That's all they are, there's nothing to worry about, let's just enjoy the fact that Robb's coming home."

With that she headed to her room, feeling happier than she had all evening, she could hardly wait for the weekend.

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End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	2. Chapter 2

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 2 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Glad you liked it, here's the next chapter :)  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well, wait and see :)  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you liked it, yeah, they're like that.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Finally the weekend came; the whole family was waiting anxiously for Robb to arrive, they had received a phone call from him saying he would arrive within the next half hour. The strange mix of emotions in the atmosphere was palpable; they were concerned and slightly suspicious as Robb was bringing his new girlfriend, the one which prompted him to break up with Roslin Frey and annoy Walder. However there was also joy and anticipation; they had all missed Robb after he went away and were looking forward to seeing him again. Sure enough, while looking out the window, Rickon spotted Robb's car and called out to the rest of the family. Soon they were all assembled in the living room as Robb knocked on the door and entered. Like the rest of the children excluding Arya, Robb had inherited the auburn red hair and blue eyes from his mother. He smiled as he saw his family; Catelyn was the first to approach him and they hugged each other fiercely.

"It's good to see you again Robb." She said happily.

Robb's reply was just as cheerful. "It's good to see you too mum, I missed you guys."

"We all missed you." Catelyn stated as she stepped back and the others came forwards, all hugging Robb as he returned their hugs.

It was then Arya, then everybody else became aware of the person standing in the doorway, just behind Robb.

The other person turned out to be an undeniably pretty slender girl of twenty with long curly chestnut brown hair and brown eyes with a heart shaped face. She was smiling yet when she realized all eyes were on her she shifted uncomfortably, indicating shyness. Catelyn then spoke again.

"Aren't you going to introduce us Robb?"

Robb cleared his throat and stepped back so he was next to the girl. He took her hand as he spoke.

"Sorry, yes of course." He paused and then introduced her. "This is Jeyne, Jeyne Westerling, my girlfriend."

Jeyne smiled lightly. "Nice to meet you all."

They all nodded politely back as Robb introduced them all in turn. Soon they were all seated in the living room. There was a pause before Eddard spoke.

"Robb, you are aware that there's been some…issues, regarding your new relationship." He stated.

Robb sighed. "Yes I know; Walder Frey hasn't taken things too well."

Sansa looked panic-stricken as she spoke. "That's an understatement, Robb, the man's furious, you know what he could do to us…I mean we…"

Arya rolled her eyes.

"Sansa, stop it." She cut across her sister. "That's just a rumour, it's not real."

"But…"

Catelyn shook her head. "Enough, both of you, what sort of example is this to set to Jeyne."

Jeyne laughed and shook her head. Robb smiled as he gently squeezed her hand.

"Arya's right though Sansa, the Frey's don't have mafia connections. Walder's just an irritable old man, but it's probably best I try and smooth things over with him."

Jeyne nodded. "I think that'd be a good idea."

The others all nodded.

After a brief silence Catelyn sighed.

"Yes, we should talk to Walder, try and smooth things over." She looked up at her son. "However I know what you're like Robb; you can be hot-headed at times. I think it'll be best if I help you deal with this."

Robb was about to complain but realized his mother was right. Jeyne also seemed to appreciate the idea of Catelyn helping them so he agreed. Since they were planning on staying for the weekend Catelyn insisted on setting up the spare room, much to Robb and Jeyne's amusement. They knew she was being insistent on them not sharing a bed in Robb's room. Once the small suitcases holding their clothes for the weekend were in the respective rooms they once again returned to the living room and began talking, with the rest of the family getting to know Jeyne better. It did not take long for the family to warm up to Jeyne and soon they are conversing eagerly. They talked well into the night and went to bed late. The following morning Arya headed downstairs, yawning. She was still clad in her pyjamas, a pair of lilac patterned pyjama trousers and a white pyjama T-shirt. When she entered the kitchen she found she wasn't the only one. Sansa sat at the kitchen table in her pyjamas too; a pair of rose coloured shorts and a matching spaghetti strap tank-top; over them she wore a mid-thigh length pink dressing gown which she kept open.

Arya sat down at the kitchen table and grabbed the nearest cereal box, pouring some into a bowl and began eating.

"Everyone else still asleep?" She asked with her mouth full.

Sansa shook her head, suppressing a disgusted look. "Mum and dad are awake, they'll be getting dressed; the rest of us will be getting dressed too, while Robb and Jon catch up we're going to take Jeyne out, show her around Winterfell."

Arya smiled and nodded. "You've grown to like her now."

Sansa also smiled.

"Yeah, she's nice…I guess, I guess I was just…overreacting."

Arya laughed. "Well, I wish I could come with you guys but I've got fencing lessons."

Sansa nodded, remembering. It was then they were joined by Bran and Rickon. Both brothers were also still in their pyjamas, in Rickon's case a pair of simple black pyjama trousers and black tank-top, Bran wore blue and red chequered pyjama trousers and a red T-shirt with the spider-man symbol on it. They all soon began getting ready and finally, after leaving a note for Robb, Catelyn, Eddard, Sansa and the younger boys left the house with Jeyne. Arya headed upstairs to get ready for her fencing lessons while Jon and later Robb entered the kitchen. As they ate breakfast Robb smiled, it had been a while since he spoke to his cousin, his smile faded however when he noticed how serious Jon was being.

Robb pondered for a moment, trying to think what to say.

"So how's life, we haven't spoken in ages." He said finally.

Jon shrugged. "She looks like a nice girl." He said, referring to Jeyne. "You look happy with her."

Robb sighed and clarified. "I am, but I was asking about you."  
Jon sighed and was quiet for a long moment before finally revealing. "I'm going to join the army, when Uncle Benjen comes to visit, I'll be leaving with him."  
"What?!"

"I need a change Robb." Jon explained.

Robb shook his head. "Then shave your head, why join the army?"

Jon shrugged. "They need soldiers, this way I can do something, plus it should help…I don't know if you noticed, but your mother can't stand to even look at me. It might make things easier for her."

Robb wanted to protest but he knew that was true, for some reason his mother seemed to go out of her way to avoid Jon, whenever she did look at him Robb noticed a pained guilt ridden expression on her face. Unbeknownst to both young men, their entire exchange had been heard by Arya, she stood horrified.

'_No, Jon can't leave.'_ Her thoughts raced at the implications. _'He's the only one who understands me, who loves me for who I am. Everybody else wants me to change…if Jon leaves, nobody will care about me.'_

Still in shock she turned and grabbed her fencing bag and left the house, not even paying attention as she got on the bus, paid and took her seat. Her mind full of what she had just overheard.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, links to pictures of the pyjamas worn by the four younger Starks are on my profile page, take a look if you like. Read and review please.


	3. Chapter 3

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 3 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, they've already taken a liking to Jeyne. Yeah well, suits his nerdiness after all.  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well, here's the next one :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Arya's mind was in a haze, she felt like she was in a constant state of denial. Even fencing; which was normally an outlet for her, failed to provide any kind of distraction. Normally she felt happy, holding the foil in her hands, she felt whole and safe. Syrio was the best instructor she could have; he used and taught her an old technique called Water Dancing which took advantage of speed over strength. She had been training for years and was constantly getting better; she had even won a few medals at competitions, she kept them all in her room. Yet once again, her fencing was something only Jon really understood and made time for, he came to all her competitions, the rest of the family, not so much. She understood and didn't blame them; after all, her parents had jobs and four other kids. But with Jon it felt good knowing she had at least one person there to support her, now she wouldn't even have that.

"Girl, you are not focusing." The Braavosi tones of her instructor cut into her thoughts and she was jolted out of them.

"Sorry." She said quickly.

Syrio's expression softened; Arya was never like this during training. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no, nothing important." She replied.

Syrio shook his head.

"Arya, you can trust me." He said; Arya bit her lip, her nervous habit.

She guessed she might as well; he was clearly concerned he hardly ever called her by her first name.

Finally she took a deep breath and explained.

"Jon's leaving for the army." Even as she said it the impact of the words finally hit her and she fought hard to keep control of herself.

Syrio looked thoughtful. "Jon, the boy who always came to watch you." She nodded and he continued. "Arya; I can see you are having a hard time with this…But think about it, if Jon can't be here, wouldn't you want to make him proud?"

Arya smiled and nodded; Syrio was right. So they took up their stances again and continued the lesson. After returning home Arya noted the atmosphere in the house and realized that now the whole family knew about Jon's plan. There was tension; dismay; only Catelyn seemed to be reacting with indifference. But again, Arya found it hard to tell; her mother always hid her emotions well. Sansa had never been close to Jon; noting their mother's disapproval of him and, due to her closeness to her mother, gave Jon a wide berth. Now she looked confused, uncertain about how she should feel. Seeing these reactions; Arya could help but feel angry. Still she tried to cover those feelings and simply tried to continue the day as normal, with only marginal success. That night, Arya simply couldn't sleep, it seemed to sink in, Jon was leaving for the army, she might never see him again.

'_It's mum's fault, all her fault, she can't stand Jon and he knows it.'_ She thought bitterly. _'It's all because of her he's leaving.'_

Arya groaned as she realized what she was thinking, she tried to ignore it and get to sleep.

Over the next four days Arya found herself going through the next four stages of grief, anger, then, the following day she tried bargaining with Jon, but he was adamant on going. This meant that on Thursday she had sunk into depression and then, on Friday, she ended up at, what she felt, was the hardest stage of all, acceptance. She knew she couldn't stop Jon going now, especially since Uncle Benjen would arrive tonight and be leaving on Sunday. All she could do was make the most of the remaining time; she now wished she hadn't squandered so much of it. She was currently sitting outside, staring forlornly at the garden pond. She felt movement beside her; she didn't have to look to know it was Jon.

"Arya…" He began.

She shook her head. "I'm not gonna say it Jon, I know you're set on going…Just please, promise me, you'll write."

Jon smiled sadly and hugged her. "I will, whenever I can."

There was a pause and then Jon sighed.

"You should really apologize to your mother, for the way you acted a few days ago." He explained. "I get you were angry but…"

Arya shook her head. "I know, I know…I'll, I'll go do it right now."

She stood up and headed into the house. She found her mother in the kitchen, having just finished the dishes.

"Uh, mum…" She began awkwardly.

Catelyn turned to her daughter and smiled. "Yes sweetheart?"

Arya began biting her bottom lip again; Catelyn noticed it and waited, wondering why her daughter was so nervous.

Finally Arya let out a breath and spoke. "I'm sorry for snapping at you a few days ago, I just…I…"

Catelyn shook her head. "Arya, you were angry, that doesn't quite justify your irrational outburst but, I understand. It's okay."

Arya nodded and felt relieved that her mother had accepted her apology, although she had almost lost her temper again. Jon was leaving, how could her mother see Arya's response to that as an irrational outburst? Once again her mother proved she just didn't understand her younger daughter. Still, she didn't dwell on it, instead trying to make the most of her remaining time with her cousin.

Finally Sunday came around; the whole family had gathered for a special dinner, during which Arya noted how her mother and Sansa seemed to avoid Jon's eyes, focusing on their plates. Her father and Robb were both talking to Jon and Benjen, clearly proud of Jon for finally following his own path. The younger boys seemed to regard Jon as a hero now. Arya felt like she was the only one dismayed by Jon's leaving, then again, maybe she was the only one who was displaying it on the surface, she had no way of knowing. Finally however, when dinner was over Benjen stood up.

"Well, best grab your bag and say your goodbyes Jon. We'll need to leave soon if we want to get back in time." He stated seriously.

Jon nodded. "Okay, I'm ready."

With that he retrieved his back and walked over to where the rest of the family were assembled, waiting. Jon smiled shook hands with Robb, hugged and ruffled the two younger boy's hair. He hugged his uncle who whispered words of encouragement and then turned to his aunt.

"Catelyn." He said softly.

She smiled lightly and nodded, they made no contact, all she said was. "Stay safe Jon."

Jon nodded, he and Sansa hugged awkwardly and then he approached Arya.

Arya fought back her tears as she and Jon hugged.

"Please don't go." She whispered, trying one last time.

Jon sighed. "You know I have to Arya…You be good while I'm gone, don't cause too much trouble."

Arya managed a short laugh. "I won't…I love you Jon."

"I love you too kiddo." Jon replied and they finally stepped back. Jon nodded and then turned to Benjen who also nodded and together they left the house.

The rest of the family stood and watched as they left. Arya felt as if a piece of her was leaving too. Once they were out of sight the family retreated back into the house. Arya turned and began to head upstairs; her mother watched her go.

"Arya…?" She began.

Arya looked back and muttered. "I'm tired, going to bed."

She then headed upstairs and locked herself in her room. She sighed and threw herself on her bed; she felt something beneath her and sat up. It was a leather jacket that belonged to Jon; once she loved and usually borrowed without asking.

'_He left it for me…'_ She realized and finally she let her tears fall as she clutched the jacket to her, inhaling deeply. It still carried his scent; it still felt as if he wasn't completely away.

Finally, late at night; she was sitting on her bed; she still couldn't believe Jon was really gone. She felt lost without him, without someone to understand her, it was as if a hole had been left within her that could never be filled. So, as usual, whenever she was angry or depressed, she reached under her bed and pulled out her diary and opened it, preparing to write. She wrote, reflecting on her feelings, her sorrow, her anger, everything…Her deep annoyance at the fact her mother and Sansa just didn't seem to give a damn that Jon was gone. Everything she wrote came from her own problems too, the ones she faced every day. The fact that now there was nobody to reassure her when people simply regarded her as Sansa Stark's less pretty sister. The fact that there was now nobody to comfort her after she got into a fight with her mother or sister, was viewed as nothing but a trouble-maker, a disappointment. How she had to cope with several teachers compared her work to Sansa's with Sansa always doing better, except for P.E. Then of course there were Sansa's friends, constantly looking at her in disgust, sneering at her. She brushed it off, pretending it didn't matter, but deep down she felt hurt that no one accepted her for who she was. Nobody could accept her except Jon, now he was gone and tomorrow, the holidays were over, she'd be going back to school, to face all that again, without Jon to help her cope.

Finally Arya finished writing and slid the diary back under her bed; she then changed into her pyjamas and stopped, she looked at her reflection in the mirror and her sadness intensified. Everything about her features reminded her of Jon; the same brown hair which Jon used to mess up; the same grey eyes, long face. She once wondered if her parents really were her parents or if she was like Jon. Jon however reassured her she wasn't, that that parents really were her parents, but she sometimes doubted. Finally, with a dejected sigh she turned away from the mirror and went to bed, dreading facing the next day, the first full day of her life without Jon.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	4. Chapter 4

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 4 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, it's pretty bad for her.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Glad you liked it, yeah, got that right.  
rubini25: Yeah, it's pretty emotional, well, just wait, things will slowly start to change. Well, here we go.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The day dawned, bright and sunny, yet Arya was still caught in the gloom. There would be no more avoidance, she now had to face it; Jon was gone. She groaned as the alarm woke her up, it was time to get ready for school. She sighed; along with her siblings still of school age, she went to an expensive private school in Riverrun; due to this it meant wearing the school uniform. Arya quickly got herself ready, getting changed out of her pyjamas, pulling on underwear and then her uniform. The girls summer uniform for school consisted of a bourbon gold coloured blouse which could be worn long or short sleeved, Arya preferred to wear hers with short sleeves. A night blue button up long sleeved cardigan, bourbon gold plaid short skirt with thin vertical night blue stripes every 5 cm that reached just above her knees, simple socks, in Arya's case short socks that were mismatched and simple shoes. To finish the outfit off, a wine-red ribbon went under the collar of the blouse and tied in a bow at the front. Arya hated wearing skirts but had no choice with the uniform; however, to assert her individuality and protect her modesty Arya wore black biker shorts under her skirt. She looked in the mirror and scowled, she hated the uniform and wished she didn't have to wear it, but her anger was overshadowed by a wave of sadness as once more she saw the similarities to Jon in her appearance. She quickly turned away from the mirror and headed downstairs.

Downstairs she found Sansa; also clad in her uniform; Sansa also wore a short sleeved blouse, however she wore knee socks with her uniform, all neat and perfect, her socks even matched. To finish the outfit off she wore a simple bow in her hair. She scowled when she noticed Arya's untidy appearance, particularly the mismatched socks.

"Arya, what is wrong with you, you could've at least made an effort to look tidy." She chastised.

Arya scowled back. "Like I give a damn, sorry I let you down, Miss Prissy Perfect."

Before Sansa could reply another voice spoke up.

"C'mon you guys, enough arguing, let's just get breakfast and hurry or we'll be late for the bus."

They turned and found Bran and Rickon standing in the doorway; behind them were the family dogs. Bran and Rickon were clad in the boy's summer uniforms. A wine-red button up short sleeved shirt, night blue knee length shorts held up by a leather belt, a bourbon gold tie, night blue calf-high socks and simple shoes. Over his shirt Bran wore a night-blue V-necked sleeveless cardigan; Rickon wore a simple night blue suit vest. Sansa sighed and nodded, Arya merely rolled her eyes and they all ate breakfast in silence, while their dogs all went and lay at their master's feet. There used to be six of the large dogs in the house, but there was room at Robb's dorm for his dog, Grey Wind, so Robb had taken him with him. Jon's albino dog, Ghost, had ended up accompanying his master to the army. That left the dogs that belonged to the four younger children, Lady, Nymeria, Summer and Shaggydog.

As they ate their parents entered, it was clear from their expressions they had heard the argument. Arya suppressed a groan; her mother's expression told her clearly that she agreed with Sansa, as usual.

"Arya, must you go out looking like that, you could at least tidy yourself up." Catelyn stated. "At the very least find socks that match."

Arya rolled her eyes; she didn't need to look at Sansa to know she was smirking.

"I'm fine the way I am mum, why can't you just accept that." She scowled at Sansa. "This is your fault."

Sansa looked shocked. "My fault, I'm not the one who is untidy."

Suddenly, despite Bran whispering at him not to get involved, Rickon cut in. "Doesn't matter, you're the one who got on her case about her clothes, you started it…"

"I don't care who started it." Ned said suddenly. "I'm finishing it, no more arguing, finish your breakfast and hurry; the bus will be here soon."

They all did as they were told; once they left Cat turned to her husband.

"Ned, I'm starting to worry about Arya, she's never acted out like this before." She told him.

Ned shook his head, smiling. "It's okay Cat, it's nothing to worry about, she's just going through a phase, that's all."

Cat wasn't so sure but nodded anyway and they both left for work.

As usual, when they arrived, the Stark's drew a lot of attention. They were well known as the second richest family in Westeros, just behind the Baratheons. They were also very popular, mostly. One person however did not view them with admiration, rather annoyance. It was a young woman, aged fifteen with long tied back blonde hair, brown eyes and, despite being a northern girl with hardly any sun, tan skin. She scowled as she observed the Starks; first looking at Sansa. She wore the girl's uniform along with see-through tights.

'_Ugh, goody two-shoes Sansa Stark, every button fastened, wearing a bow in her hair, looking like an angel.' _The girl thought with a sneer. _'It's like I'm the only one not stupid enough to fall for it, it's so obviously an act.'_

She turned her angry gaze to Bran and Arya next. She did not look upon them favourably either; noting Arya wearing her cardigan around her waist, her blouse coming out of her skirt, her unbrushed hair.

'_Not to mention she's doing that tacky thing, wearing shorts under her skirt.'_ She thought venomously. _'Ugh and that boy, such an obvious nerd, hopefully some of the other guys will be sticking his head down a toilet before long, teach him a lesson. Ugh and his legs looks so horrible in those shorts, so pasty and white.'_

When her gaze fell on Rickon however she smiled.

Her thoughts picked up again, this time going differently. _'Wow, he's so hot, how can he possibly be related to those other losers. The way he wears his uniform, looks normal but still so wild and handsome…omg, his legs, so muscular, he's perfect, flawless…well, except for not being my boyfriend.'_

It was then she was jolted out of her thoughts by the bell ringing and quickly everyone headed to class.

Arya sighed as gym class finally ended. She had survived through most of the day, but still was getting annoyed, the teacher's had constantly been on her case, once again comparing her unfavourably to Sansa. The way people looked at her, worse than all that however, next class was history, her least favourite class; she had gotten into more fights with the teacher and got more detentions for that class than any others. She quickly got changed out of her gym uniform; night blue short shorts, a wine red P.E. T-shirt, socks and sneakers. The boy's uniform consisted of wine red knee length short, a sleeveless jersey in the same colour along with socks and sneakers. Once back in her uniform she slipped out of the changing room and glared when she saw two familiar people, well, she was glaring at one of them, the other she didn't mind. The figure she was glaring at was an eighteen year old boy, tall with short blonde hair and green eyes; it was Sansa's boyfriend, Joffrey Baratheon, known to Arya as 'Joffrey the Cunt'. The girl also had blonde hair and green eyes, although she was only fifteen and much shorter, it was Joffrey's younger sister, Myrcella. Both were clad in their uniforms, Myrcella wearing skin coloured tights, like Sansa's friend Jeyne Poole.

"Tell Sansa I'll see her when she's done with practice, okay." Joffrey was saying to his sister.

Arya scowled, Joffrey acting all nice, he had something awful planned, she knew it, that's the way he was. Sansa and all the girls on the cheerleading squad had last period off today for practice; Sansa would be in the gym, setting up the equipment. Arya didn't find it fair that the cheerleaders got last period off while everyone else had to work, she made up her mind in that instant, she was skipping last period, she began to make her escape.

Sansa smiled as she worked, setting up all the equipment for the cheerleading practice. She was currently in her cheerleading uniform; a really short night blue plaid skirt, a night blue V-necked sleeveless shirt cut short just above the waist. She smiled, she loved organizing everything, one of the perks of being the cheerleading captain; that and she got to cheer on her boyfriend at every game; her youngest brother was also part of the football team too.

'_Rickon's pretty good too; if he keeps trying he'll probably be as good as Joffrey someday.'_

She was interrupted by the arrival of Myrcella and her best friend Jeyne Poole, still in school uniforms; like Sansa Myrcella wore a bow in her hair and tried to stay as neat as possible, Jeyne meanwhile was more daring, wearing her skirt shorter than most of the girls.

"Hey girls, you ready." She greeted with a smile.

They both nodded and Myrcella spoke. "Oh, Sansa, Joff wants to talk to you after practice."

She nodded in response and soon Myrcella and Jeyne changed into their cheerleading uniforms while the rest of the squad arrived and got ready. They got to practicing; working on new choreography's and working on the pyramid, with Sansa on the top of course. Sansa smiled when they finished the first part of training, it was going really well, the team were always so dedicated to their cheers; it was always fun working with them.

They were taking a break, Sansa smiled as she listened to some of the other girls talking, mostly about their boyfriends and other issues; Jeyne smiled and turned to Sansa.

"Wow, just listen to them, bet they wish they were like you and Joffrey huh?" She said. "You guys are after the 'it couple'."

Sansa smiled, nodding; she knew all the girls on the squad envied her relationship with Joffrey. But then, it was to be expected; she was considered the most popular girl in school, it followed that she should therefore have the perfect boyfriend and be cheerleading captain and have all the top grades in the subjects that mattered.

"Oh, that's right." She gasped, remembering. "Girls, listen up, we're going to have to put in some extra effort, we've got a new girl joining us next week; we need to make sure she gets up to speed."

They all nodded, then suddenly, one of the girls scowled. "Ugh, isn't that your sister Sansa?"

Sansa turned abruptly to see Arya heading past the gym, clearly heading for the exit, after all, her next class was in the other direction.

"Where does she, like, think she's going, huh?"

Sansa shook her head and stepped out of the gym. "Arya, where are you going, you still have a class, we were supposed to go home together."

Arya mere scowled at her, flipped her off and kept running until she was out of sight.

'_I don't believe this; how can she treat me like that. She's my sister; why doesn't she have to be so different.' _She thought to herself. _'I'm just trying to help her, so she knows the best clothes, music, make up, everything she needs to get a boyfriend.'_

She shook her head, determined not to let it bother her and returned to the gym.

* * *

End of chapter, so, first day back at school and already Arya can't take it, also, who is this girl who has taken a liking to Rickon, but despises the other Starks.

Only time will tell; anyway, next up we will start just after the school day, but then there will be a bit of a time skip to the end of the week for the next major events.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	5. Chapter 5

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 5 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you liked it, yeah, that's Sansa's narrow-mindedness for you. Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Bran smiled; school was over; he had hurried home to get changed and was now walking to his friend Jojen's house. Normally he went over to Jojen's to study or do homework; but since they hadn't been given any Bran opted to go over and play video games with Jojen instead. He soon arrived and spotted another car in the driveway, one he didn't recognize. Jojen hadn't said anything about visitors.

'_Maybe it's someone who has come to see his parents.' _Bran theorized.

He reached and knocked on the door and waited patiently. The door was answered by Jojen's father, Howland Reed. Howland smiled when he saw Bran.

"Ah Bran, come in, nice to see you." He said pleasantly as Bran stepped in. "How are your parents?"

Howland was an old friend of his father; yet Bran still felt uneasy; he found himself looking down at his feet as he spoke.

"They're fine, Mr. Reed." He said.

Howland frowned; remembering how he had overheard Bran's parents talking; his mother had said that one sure way to know Bran was lying or uncertain was to simply watch him. According to her, whenever he lied or was uncertain, he always looked at his feet.

The awkwardness passed however as Bran spoke again. "I came to see Jojen."

Howland smiled. "Of course, he's up in his room."

Bran thanked him and headed upstairs while Howland returned to the living room, troubled.

Bran sighed; he felt bad lying to Mr. Reed like that; but the truth was, he wasn't too sure about his parents just now. On the night Jon had left Bran had come downstairs to get a glass of water and had found his mother crying. He had wanted to comfort her, to find out what happened but just couldn't move. The following morning, before going to the kitchen he had seen his parents together, they had looked tense, as if something was troubling them, as if they had just argued and realized they had almost been caught doing so.

'_But what could it be, problems in their marriage, problems with work, what…' _He found himself fretting. _'I just hope it doesn't lead to anything more serious.'_

There were a whole number of possibilities, many of them Bran didn't want to think about, but he pushed them to the back of his mind as he approached Jojen's room and heard his friend's voice. Bran saw Jojen's door was open and he was talking to someone, a young woman, presumably the owner of the car outside. Jojen then spotted him and smiled.

"Bran, there you are." He called out cheerfully, surprisingly for the normally solemn boy. "Come here, I'd like to introduce you to my sister."

Bran hurried over as the girl turned and Bran almost stopped dead.

It took a while but finally Bran's mind was able to form coherent thoughts as he managed to recover quickly and continue walking, without causing a scene.

'_Gods, she's beautiful.' _Was his first thought; his second, after realizing what he had just thought was. _'Focus Bran, focus.'_

She had the same light brown hair and green eyes as Jojen, but her hair was slightly longer, and wilder.

Finally in the room he stopped; the girl smiled at him; Bran found himself even more enthralled by that smile.

"Hi." Bran said mesmerized.

She smiled wider, kindly, open. "Meera Reed. Jojen's told me a lot about Bran."

"Yeah…" He managed to reply; although his thoughts were elsewhere. _'Even her voice is beautiful.'_

Jojen's voice cut into his thoughts as he explained. "She's come from college, I thought she was gonna be here tomorrow."

The siblings shared a smirk as Jojen continued.

"You don't mind if she hangs out with us today?"

Bran shook his head. "No." He replied truthfully while thinking. _'And apparently I now can't say more than one word at a time.'_

So Meera joined them as they played video games; Bran got to know her better too. As well as being beautiful she was smart, funny and more than capable of kicking their asses in any game they played. He knew then, he was in love.

Arya sighed as she once again sat doing her homework; it was Friday night; throughout the week she had been getting more and more homework. Somehow Bran and Sansa got theirs done easily. Despite being a year younger, Bran seemed capable of understanding the level of work Arya had to do, but she could never ask him to help her, as every day this week he had been going around to Jojen's house. Arya sighed; wishing her nerdy brother was here to help her. She had heard them both talking and seen them both, Bran and Jojen were both nerds but were different types of nerds. Jojen was more of a bookish nerd, most of his free time, whenever not hanging out with Bran, spent reading. Bran on the other hand was the kind of nerd into sci-fi and anime and gods knows what else. Arya shook her head and tried to focus on her homework; but all she could think about was the shitty week she had. Everywhere she went in school, there it was, problems, people comparing unfavourably to Sansa, there was no escaping it. The upshot of her attempts was she finally finished her homework, but had no free time left before dinner and she was in a foul mood. When her mother called her for dinner she sighed and headed downstairs; trying desperately to look calm.

Catelyn sighed as she tried to maintain her cheerful persona. It had been a hard week; while Jon leaving relieved her of the old guilt she had felt all these years; it had not come without cost. She had seen it in Arya, in Ned, no matter what she did, it felt to her like Arya was falling apart; worse she felt that Ned, Arya…everyone, was blaming her for Jon leaving. She had argued with Ned the morning after Jon left and they still had arguments, things were growing tense between them. She didn't want that, she just wanted things to be the way they were. That was why she decided to speak to them about some plans she had made for a family day out together next weekend; she recalled Arya wishing for something like this not too long ago. True next Friday they were going to the beach for Tommen Baratheon's birthday party, but they could do this on Saturday or Sunday. She had just finished telling the family about it; Ned had smiled, the first real smile she had seen him smile all week. Many of the others seemed happy too.

"We'll finally all have a day out together, it'll be fun." She said cheerfully.

However she noticed Arya seemed to be the only one not happy, she watched her daughter breathe deeply a few times before seemingly tuning everything out. Arya remained oblivious to what was being said until she heard her mother calling her name.

"Arya, is everything alright?"

Arya fought the impulse to glare at her mother for asking such a stupid question, of course everything was not alright.

Arya fought to keep her expression neutral until her mother spoke.

"We were just talking about spending next weekend together for a family outing." Her mother said, smiling.

Arya couldn't take it anymore, when her mother threw that in her face. She snapped.

"IT'S NOT A FAMILY WEEKED!" She screamed.

Her father glared at her. "Arya!"

She was beyond caring however. "How can you possibly say that, I can understand you and Sansa not caring, but what about dad, what about the rest of you!? There's an empty room upstairs. There's an empty chair right there!"

She pointed at Jon's chair; Catelyn shook her head. "Arya, that's enough, I'm trying to do something nice for you, you should be more appreciative. Think about how much your father and I have to work, we need to take time as a family."

Arya stood up sharply, knocking her chair over, but she didn't care.

"Get it through your head." She snarled before snapping again. "WE'RE NOT A FAMILY WITHOUT JON!"

With that she turned and stormed upstairs, barricading herself in her room, without even bothering to finish her dinner. Catelyn sighed and buried her face in her hands. Just once, just once she wanted to do something nice for her family and not have it blow up in her face. How could things have changed so drastically, how could Arya have changed so much, just from one simple thing? The rest of the family tried to reassure her, but as far as she was concerned it was too late, the damage had been done.

Another sleepless night; Arya lay in bed reading her diary, she had wrote in it again, but still it did nothing to quiet her thoughts. Her mind felt like it was going to burst from the maelstrom of thoughts racing through it.

'_I just want to be able to sleep, for this to all be a nightmare…to wake up and it's all over…'_

She knew it wasn't possible but then, what could she wish for; one thing she knew, she had to change. She couldn't be herself anymore that was clear, so she'd just need to change and wear that mask permanently. She makes up her mind about the first step and, after making sure everyone else was in bed and asleep, she headed downstairs, grabbed the scissors from the kitchen and stopped in front of the bathroom mirror. There she was confronted by the aspects of her appearance that reminded her of Jon. Time to change some things now. So she got to work, cutting her hair really short; doing it herself meant of course her hair ended up choppy and uneven but she didn't care. It helped, she looked different now; she no longer saw Jon when she looked in the mirror. Disposing of the cut locks of hair she replaced the scissors and headed back to bed, there was one more thing to do, but it would have to wait until tomorrow. She set her alarm so she'd be up before everyone else, she wasn't going to let them stop her.

The following morning Catelyn was setting the table and preparing everything in the kitchen for breakfast. As usual Sansa helped her while Ned and Bran watched the early morning news. She had sent Rickon to wake Arya up.

"Mum!" Rickon suddenly yelled as he came bounding down the stairs.

She turned to him. "Yes?"

Rickon fought to get his breath before exclaiming. "Arya wasn't in bed; she's not in the house."

"What?!" Catelyn gasped; after last night she was suddenly afraid.

Ned however had come in and heard the exchange, he shook his head. "I'm sure she just got up early for a morning training run, she has fencing this evening remember."

Catelyn calmed down, it was a reasonable explanation; but soon shattered when Sansa went to but something in the rubbish bin and gasped. Catelyn hurried over and to her horror saw, on top of all the rubbish; cut off locks of Arya's hair.

Cat groaned. "What has she done now?"

Ned however still wasn't worried. "It's alright Cat; she'll be fine, it's just a phase she's going through, it'll pass."

Cat fought to stay calm at that. _'Has Ned forgotten his sister went through that same phase and it ended up leading to her death and leaving Jon an orphan?'_

She tried to continue with breakfast but her thoughts remained with Arya and her worry for her.

It wasn't until midday they saw Arya again; she walked through the front door as if nothing was wrong. Her hair cut very short and dyed jet black.

"Arya, what did you do?!" Cat yelled, surprised.

Arya shrugged nonchalantly. "Didn't you always say I should do something with my hair?"

Cat shook her head. "I didn't mean that. You're going to change it back."

Arya scowled and shook her head.

"No, I'm not." She snapped. "I did what you told me to do and took care of my hair."

Catelyn groaned. "I meant…I meant brush it, braids or something…like Sansa."

That turned out to be the wrong phrase as Arya glared at her sister before flaring up.

"Oh of course, it's always about Sansa and being like her, isn't it mum!?"

She stormed past and began headed upstairs again to her room, yelling back. "I like it as it is!"

With that her door slammed shut and Catelyn sighed sadly; wondering how things could come to this so drastically; one simple thing, Jon leaving and suddenly Arya becomes volatile, lashing out at everyone for no reason. She was losing her youngest daughter and felt powerless to prevent it.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	6. Chapter 6

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 6 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**rubini25: Thanks, glad you are enjoying it, in answer to both your reviews; they don't like her, but ignoring her means missing a chance to do what they really want to which is put Arya down or get her in trouble. But yeah, that's what everyone seems to have trouble with, Arya is not Sansa, she wants and likes completely different things. Well, in truth, Ned saying that is more wishful thinking, like, if he says it enough it will be true and Arya won't go the same way as Lyanna. Well, she will find someone to talk to, eventually, but right now, she's on her own.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, the Stark's are currently having serious problems, but there may still be hope for them, but only time will tell.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well; things are pretty bad right now; yeah, it's pretty sweet.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Catelyn sighed; following the fiasco that had occurred when Arya had changed her look; things seemed to change. Arya became moody and secretive, also remaining volatile, lashing out to anyone who annoyed her. Also, due to unforeseen work commitments they had to cancel their weekend plans. She had argued with Ned about that but in the end nothing changed. Nothing except now things were even more strained between her and Ned.

'_It keeps getting worse; why can't things just go back to being happy again.'_ She shook her head.

She hoped at least today they would be able to keep things together; it was Tommen's birthday, they would be attending the party at the beach. They were all getting ready and Catelyn ensured everybody was dressed for the simple beach party. Cat herself wore a black mid-thigh length dress with red flower decorations; the other people currently in the room were Sansa and Bran. Sansa wore a yellow sun-dress with a wraparound pattern for the upper part of the dress and a yellow cloth belt while Bran wore brown lightweight trousers and a grey short sleeved shirt and simple sandals like the others. Robb had called on the phone, Jeyne was unable to make it but he would meet them there and she agreed. It was then Ned and Rickon entered the room; Ned in a simple white button up shirt and white light trousers, Rickon wore dark blue fashionably ripped jeans and a dark blue short sleeved button up shirt. Catelyn smiled, relieved to see that things seemed to be going okay so far.

Ned smiled as Rickon sat down next to Bran and Sansa; the brother's immediately talking while Sansa spoke to Joffrey on the phone.

Ned then spoke. "Well, we're nearly all ready, just waiting for Arya now."

Catelyn nodded; feeling slightly awkward.

"I'll go up and see her." She said finally as she headed upstairs.

She found Arya still in her room; dressed in her outfit for the party, a pair of denim shorts, a light grey spaghetti strap tank-top and darker grey sleeveless vest, both sides of the vest tied together with a thin cord. Arya tensed when her mother walked in, Catelyn smiled, trying to keep the sadness out of her face at her daughter's reaction.

'_She doesn't trust me anymore.'_ She realized sadly. _'She thinks every time we talk it'll become a full-blown argument.'_

Catelyn stepped forwards. "We're all nearly ready to go Arya, what about you?"

Arya nodded slowly.

"Yeah, yeah I'm ready mum."

Catelyn looked forlornly at Arya's hair, badly dyed jet black and cut short and choppy.

"Arya…" She began but Arya scowled and cut across her.

"No mum, my hair is fine, I'm…"

Cat raised her hands, trying to defuse the situation so she could explain. "I was only going to ask if you'd let me tidy it up, make it more even."

Arya softened at this and sighed. "I…Sorry, thanks mum, sure."

Cat smiled and nodded and they quickly headed to the bathroom so she could work.

Finally the family was fully ready and driving down to the beach. Finally, when they arrived they got out of the car and began to approach; the sun was shining everything looked amazing, even Arya smiled, possibly for the first time the whole week. Robb was waiting for them by his car, smiling widely. He was dressed for the party at the beach in a pair of knee length denim shorts and a dark blue T-shirt.

"Robb, glad you could make it." Cat said softly as she embraced him.

Robb returned the embrace and greeted the other family members just as warmly. "Thanks mum, Jeyne said sorry she couldn't make it."

Catelyn nodded as Ned spoke. "It's okay, we understand; things are busy."

Robb nodded and they headed down to the beach where the Baratheon family was waiting. Robert greeted them in his usual cheerful, boisterous fashion. His wife Cersei and their youngest son Tommen stood next to him, both smiling, Tommen's real, Cersei's strained as usual. Robert was dressed rather casually, a black T-shirt with a gold logo on it and a pair of white trousers. As he greeted them Cersei stood, clearly flaunting her beauty right down to her clothes; an elegant purple dress with purple cloth belt that reached down to just past her knees. Tommen, now fourteen years old looked happy and cheerful; like all her children Cersei ensured Tommen was dressed in immaculate black jeans and a dark green button up shirt. Once they had said their hellos and given their birthday greetings to Tommen they headed over to where the rest of the Baratheon family were waiting.

Sansa smiled and immediately walked over to Joffrey who sat smirking; clad in a pair of white trousers with a black belt and a blue T-shirt with a white arrow design. They kissed and the other family members averted their eyes; Arya mimed gagging much to Rickon's amusement. Also present was Myrcella, dressed in a white mid-thigh dress decorated with yellow flowers and green diamonds. She was talking enthusiastically with an older man, dressed in neat but casual clothing, a pair of denim jeans and a dark blue denim shirt. It was Robert's youngest brother, Renly Baratheon. He stood up and greeted the Stark's happily, prompting Myrcella to turn to face them and do the same. Surprisingly the middle Baratheon brother was also present; Stannis was sitting stiffly at the table that had been set up. He looked uncomfortable; probably partially due to the casual clothes he was wearing; Dark short legged khakis and a blue and white plaid shirt. Sitting next to him, looking uncomfortable as usual was his daughter Shireen; clad in a simple green knee length dress. Her head was bowed and her hair covered most of her face, undoubtedly to hide her Greyscale scars as usual. They all made their greetings and soon more and more guests arrived and the party soon got underway.

Shireen sighed as she sat on a small sand dune, not too far away from the party. It was as far as she could without being rude. She hated parties; they were always too many people and too much noise. With her greyscale, hard jaw, too large ears she felt everyone who looked at her judged her. Those that didn't had forgotten her, just like her mother. Her father only put up with her on sufferance. Luckily, the party being at the beach meant she was easily able to sit a comfortable distance away from the confusion without causing offence. It was then Myrcella came over; Shireen felt the usual pang of jealousy when she saw the beautiful blonde in her mid-thigh length dress. Shireen felt exposed even in the dress she was wearing; her pale skin showed how little she went out and how she always tried to stay covered up. She didn't need to give people more reasons to laugh at her. Myrcella however was one of her closest friends; certainly her only female friends; her other friends being her cousin Edric Storm and Devan Seaworth, son of her father's closest aide at work, Davos. It was with Myrcella however that Shireen always shared some of her closest secrets, stuff she couldn't share with Edric and Devan. This included her crush on the youngest Stark boy; Myrcella had briefly had a crush on the eldest some years ago, so she understood where Shireen was coming from with her concerns.

Myrcella smiled at her and then asked, her voice adopting a conspiratorial tone.

"So, have you talked to your boy yet?"

Shireen felt her face heat up, well, her unscarred cheek did.

"Cella." She whispered, scandalized. "He's not mine…"

Myrcella laughed. "But you wish he was."

Shireen groaned. "Please…"

Myrcella simply smiled and when she was called back to the party she nodded to Shireen and headed off. As Shireen watched Myrcella stopped briefly to talk to Rickon and her entire body seized, what was she saying. But it seemed to be nothing as she then went over to her mother and Rickon continued eating. As Rickon's eldest brother went up to talk to him Shireen sighed. It was true, she often wished Rickon would notice her, but they didn't really know each other that well. Still that didn't stop Shireen from thinking, even dreaming about him; luckily she hadn't fallen into that childish trap of writing her name with his last name in notebooks, at least, not yet. She shook her head; she felt there was no point in thinking about it. Rickon wouldn't notice her, no boy would, she was too ugly, nobody would even want to look at her, let alone care about her.

Rickon smiled, enjoying the party; Myrcella had come up to ask him how he was enjoying himself. Once she left to talk to her younger brother Robb came up to him.

"Hey, enjoying yourself Rickon?" Rickon nodded; his mouth full of food. "I meant to ask…have you spoken to Shireen yet?"

Rickon frowned and shook his head and swallowed. "No, last time I spoke to her was…was the last party we were at with the Baratheons."

Robb smiled and nodded, Rickon was confused however.

"Why do you asked?"

"I think she likes you." Robb replied.

Rickon started, almost choking on the new mouthful of food. "What makes you say that?" He managed to get out after he swallowed.

Robb shrugged. "She keeps staring at you whenever she can, blushing if you talk or even look at her."

Rickon looked over at where Shireen was sitting and saw she was indeed looking at him. The moment their eyes connected however her face went scarlet and she looked away.

Rickon smirked and replied. "Oh, really?"

"Rickon behave…You know her father will kill you if you try anything inappropriate."

Rickon nodded; reassuring Robb that he wouldn't. Robb went off to join the rest of the guys. But Rickon remained where he was, his thoughts on Shireen.

Rickon remained thinking about Shireen and her revealed crush on him, even though they had already returned home from the party a few hours ago. He scowled as he remembered overhearing some of the other guys mocking her, calling her ugly and making fun of her greyscale.

'_It's not like she can help it.'_ He thought to himself. _'She's not that bad looking, Greyscale or not…'_

He sighed; he would need to think carefully about this. Normally he just rushing into his decisions, but he knew, with someone like Shireen, he would be better off thinking and waiting until he had a definite answer.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

I must apologize, but since all the links seem to have stopped working, I'll no longer be putting up pictures of the outfits, so I'm afraid you'll have to rely on your imaginations from now on.


	7. Chapter 7

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 7 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Play with her mood? She was just calming her down, trying to avoid another argument. Anyway, glad you liked it.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah well, things are going okay, for now, who knows what will happen in the future.  
rubini25: Yup, well, it was meant to be a fun time. Wouldn't say there is action in this chapter, but it introduces an important character, the antagonist of one of the four main plotlines.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Rickon scowled at his parents.

"Why do I have to go?" He asked them.

Ned sighed and did his best to explain to his youngest. "This is a business dinner true, but people expect more of the family to be there. The Bolton's are excellent business partners and would take it personally if just Cat and I went. Especially when Roose's children will also be there"

Rickon sighed. "So I have to socialize with that guy's children?"

"Not just you." Cat reassured him. "Sansa and Bran already made plans and can't come, but Arya's coming, she's getting ready right now."

Rickon nodded. _'This should be good.'_ He thought to himself, the idea of Arya at a business dinner was ridiculous.

Arya then entered the room; Rickon still wasn't used to seeing his sister with her hair like that. In addition she was wearing a dress, and true to form was clearly in a bad mood about it.

"Okay, I'm ready, now can we go." Arya remarked when she walked in. "Let's just get this over with."

Catelyn sighed. "Arya please, be polite when you're here, okay. This man is an important business partner for your father; we don't want to offend him."

Arya nodded. "Alright, alright."

Cat suppressed a sigh; despite following her wishes and wearing a dress, Arya still acted out, wearing combat boots instead of heels or proper shoes.

'_Well, at least they go with the dress, colour wise.'_ Catelyn thought ruefully.

So together the four family members left the house and drove to the Bolton household.

Fifteen year old Ellyn Bolton smiled as she finished fixing her hair and looked at herself in the mirror. Her blonde hair was now done in an elaborate fishtail braid; her brown eyes sparkled with glee. She loved business dinners, the way everyone went quiet and listened to her father when he spoke. She was the host tonight, she loved all the attention. She quickly fixed her black mini-dress, which showed a lot of her tan skin, and made sure her cleavage was showing. She pulled on her heels and smiled.

'_Hair, make-up, dress, everything's perfect.'_ She thought smugly to herself. _'Oh, other girls only wish they were this beautiful. Just wait; now I'm on the cheer team it won't be long before I steal the show. Sansa Stark can kiss her captain's position goodbye, it'll soon be mine.'_

It was then she heard her half-brother Ramsay calling her. "Ellyn, they've arrived!"

"Okay, I'll be right down!" She called back.

She did one last check in the mirror and then headed downstairs. Her father and Ramsay were greeting Eddard Stark and his wife; two of his children were present, the youngest daughter and youngest son.

Ellyn frowned. _'Of course, Arya Stark, the girl who always wears shorts under her skirt…Are those combat boots, ugh, can't she wear one bit of clothing without making a fashion faux-pas.'_

However when she turned her gaze to Rickon, things changed.

Her face split into a wide smile.

'_Of course, Rickon, the hot one, shame I can't see those delicious muscular legs of his now. But that suit is perfect, and his hair, so wild yet neat at the same time.'_

Noting that Rickon seemed to be the friendlier of the two siblings, compared to his moody sister, Ellyn walked over to him. He smiled casually.

"Hi, I'm Rickon." He said as they shook hands.

'_Oh, I want to do more than just shake hands.'_ She thought to herself, but smiled normally and replied. "Ellyn Bolton, nice to meet you."

He nodded and soon they all headed through to the dining room where the business dinner would be taking place. They all took their seats; Ellyn was thrilled to see that Rickon was sitting directly across from her. The dinner soon, began, as it did her father and Rickon's parents were already busily engaged in conversation. Ramsay was talking to Arya, who looked disgusted.

_I swear, if that creep touches my leg one more time.'_ She thought angrily. _'I've already made it clear; I'm not interested in him.'_

Ramsay however kept talking, leaning too close to her for comfort. He even sniffed her hair while talking.

'_Ugh, creep.'_

Rickon meanwhile was having his own problems. Mostly his position across form Ellyn put her cleavage in full view, making him uncomfortable.

Rickon could not deny Ellyn was a beautiful girl, and she knew it too. When she realized he was trying to not stare at her cleavage she moved her arms so that it deepened, making Rickon's mouth go dry. She seemed to love flaunting her body and also flirting, he could feel her foot under the table, playing footsie with him. When he did not respond she went even further; bringing her foot right up to rest on his inner thigh.

'_Gods she's bold.'_ He thought as he discreetly lowered his hand to gently push her foot back down and shook his head when she looked at him questioningly.

In response she merely smiled and then said. "You know, after dinner, if you like I can show you my room."

The way she said and the way she quirked her eyebrow were so suggestive Rickon felt his face heat up.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, no that's fine, thanks."

Ellyn couldn't believe it. _'What, he refused me, that's not right, he can't refuse me. I'm Ellyn Bolton; no boy in the world refuses me.'_

Rickon shifted awkwardly in his seat and pretended to be interested in the adult's conversation; anything to avoid further discomfort around Ellyn. This was getting too awkward for him; he couldn't wait to get home. Arya found herself having similar difficulties with Ramsay; despite pretending to listen to her parents he continued to sniff her hair and sit way too close to her. He even touched her leg again so she 'accidentally' stepped on his foot. That made him stop; she just wanted to go home, she couldn't believe she had agreed to this. Sansa and Bran had been smart enough with their excuses; it wasn't fair she and Rickon couldn't be excused too.

Finally however it was time to leave; her mother had insisted she say goodbye properly. So she did, Roose was emotionless, but she didn't mind that, compared to his children he could almost pass as normal. Ellyn glared at her in disgust, just like Sansa's friends did, yet Arya couldn't think of any way in which she had offended the girl. Yet Ramsay had the nerve to ask for her phone number and tried to kiss her. She stopped him and spoke quietly, so only he could here.

"Listen you creep, try to understand, I'm…not…interested." She told him, over-enunciating the last three words to get her point across.

Rickon said goodbye too, although he was cautious around Ellyn, as they left however Ellyn smirked.

'_Deny all you want Rickon Stark.' _She thought with determination. _'But you will be mine.'_

Ramsay continued to stare at Arya until she was out of sight. The ride back was quiet until Catelyn spoke.

"Well, that went rather well, wouldn't you say?"

Ned nodded and smiled. "Yes, what do you think?"

Rickon began twisting his hands while Arya bit her bottom lip, both of them displaying their nervous habits.

"It was alright." Rickon said. "Rather…interesting."

Arya just scowled. "Yeah, it was fine…Except that creep Ramsay kept trying to touch me up."

Her parents gasped and her mother turned to look at her, Rickon gaped at her too.

"Arya?" Her mother sounded worried. "He can't just do that, do you…?"

Arya shook her head. "It's fine mum, I told him straight I wasn't interested, I just wanna go home and forget about it."

Although uneasy her parents accepted this and they headed straight home.

That night, as he lay in bed, Rickon couldn't stop thinking. He was thinking about the business dinner and Ellyn, her repeated advances and suggestive remarks to him. It was clear she was interested in him, he couldn't deny her beauty and the way his body responded to her, especially clad in that skimpy dress she had been wearing. But his thought had been on Shireen. They had been ever since Robb had told him about her interest in him.

'_She's always been such a shy girl; but sweet and kind.'_ He thought to himself. _'Likes the simple things…but she's always so sad. Completely the opposite of Ellyn really…But, I just can't get her out of my head.'_

He wondered, if his mind hadn't been on Shireen, would he have responded differently to Ellyn, would he have taken her up on her offer.

'_Gods, this is so confusing, both girls are beautiful, both have crushes on me, but…which is better, what girl actually cares about me, wants a proper relationship.'_

The moment he thought that he realized he already knew the answer; he just needed to find the right moment to try and talk to her about it.

* * *

End of chapter, so we meet Ellyn Bolton, a girl with a grudge on all the Starks except Rickon, who she obsesses on.

Just a note Ellyn is indeed the same girl from chapter 4 I mentioned and the new addition to the cheer squad Sansa mentioned.

Anyway, we also have Ramsay's creepiness showing too, what's going to happen there.

Now Rickon has made up his mind about Shireen, but with Ellyn there, things are bound to get complicated.

Hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	8. Chapter 8

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 8 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, he certainly is; well, for now at least, but Ramsay doesn't give up that easily.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; thanks, it was interesting to say the least, trying to write that, will be some more of it here, from Ellyn obviously.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

It was another day of school, another day of keeping her head down and trying to avoid the popular girls who would insult her for her Greyscale scars. Shireen subconsciously tugged at her knee socks, fixing them, before continuing through the school hall. She was busy checking she had all the material she needed for her next class, so she wasn't paying attention. Hence she didn't see the leg get stuck out in front of her before it was too late. She fell to the ground, tripping over her cousin's leg. That drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity, with the worst possible timing. As she fell and hit the floor her skirt flipped up, exposing her underwear; which prompted that girl, Ellyn Bolton, to comment on it.

"Oh look, the ugly girl still wears little girl undies." She taunted before raising her voice slightly for more people to hear. "Who would've thought Shireen Baratheon would wear little pink panties with strawberries on them!"

Shireen went scarlet as she the laughter ringed in her ears; tears stung her eyes as she desperately tried to pull her skirt back down and cover herself.

The tears however prompted more taunting from Ellyn. "Aw, little baby gonna cry."

More laughter, she tried to get up, but Joffrey just pushed her down again.

"Please, Joffrey…" She pleaded but he just laughed.

"What, I'm not doing anything."

Shireen wished she could just disappear, that this humiliation never happened.

However she was rescued, by the last person she thought would rescue her.

"What do you think you're doing? It was Rickon.

Joffrey glared at him. "None of your business, don't meddle, Stark."

Rickon returned the glare with even greater ferocity. "Leave her alone."

Joffrey merely scoffed and left, the crowd dispersed, still laughing. Shireen blushed harder realizing Rickon had seen what had happened, worse still her underwear had been exposed to him, he knew about her childish panties. Yet he didn't seem to care, in fact he helped her up and also helped gather her things.

"Rickon, I…Thank you." She said finally as he smiled at her.

"You okay now?" She nodded and he sighed. "Joffrey's a real asshole."

Shireen smiled lightly at that and then, to her surprise Rickon offered to walk her to her next class. Still surprised she agreed. As they walked Rickon looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Shireen…" He said finally. "I…I've wanted to ask you something."

She nodded and he then began to speak; as she listened she grew more and more flustered, blushing again, but for a different reason than before.

"Robb told me, that day at the beach…he told me that, you…you had a crush on me." Rickon paused and then asked. "Is that true?"

Shireen began fidgeting, trying desperately how to explain herself. However her silence answered Rickon's question and he smiled.

"I see; well, I've been doing some thinking since then…wondering how I felt. I…I don't know how to say this…"

Shireen tensed, what was he going to say? _'Could he, no, of course he doesn't.'_

However she soon got her answer and it wasn't what she expected, Rickon, instead of speaking, kissed her, full on the lips; his way of telling her he felt the same.

Meanwhile in her first class, Arya's mind was racing; these past few weeks a change had come over her sister. She was wearing more make-up than usual and had started wearing the long sleeved version of the blouse, something she'd never done before. She was certain it had something to do with Joffrey.

'_That creep, he's abusing her.'_ She thought bitterly.

It was true; she had once seen Joffrey grab Sansa by the wrist roughly. That was only one occasion she had witnessed something, but when she asked Sansa about it, it had caused and argument between them. Sansa stated it was nothing; also stating that Arya was now making things up, since cutting and dying her hair wasn't getting her the attention she wanted. Arya had been shocked at that. But then she had seen a large black bruise on Sansa's stomach and knew she had been right all along. But when she had tried to tell them family, they didn't believe her. Her mother had believed Sansa; that Arya was lying for attention.

Arya scowled at that as she observed her sister walking past with the rest of her friends on the cheer squad, including that insufferable Bolton girl.

She sighed and shook her head. _'It's not fair, we may not get along but Sansa is my sister…I just want to help her, but I need to convince mum it's not another 'stunt' like my hair was. I'm not jealous…but how, how can I prove it to her.'_

She didn't understand why it was so hard for people to trust her and believe she was telling the truth; well, for her parents. She hadn't spoken to her brothers, Rickon seemed to be wrestling with some inner problem these days and Bran was hardly in the house, spending more time that usual at Jojen's. Arya found herself facing this struggle utterly alone.

Ellyn Bolton smiled as she left her class; she wondered if she would get the chance to put more losers like that mousey Shireen Baratheon in their place.

She couldn't believe that girl. _'She's the same age as me, yet she's wearing panties designed for little girls; Gods, I wouldn't be surprised if all her panties were the same, with teddy bears and other baby designs.'_

She had been shocked when Rickon had leapt to Shireen's defence but felt it didn't matter. It gave her a chance to stare as those legs she admired; so perfect in his shorts. His whole body was perfect, regardless of what he wore, she felt, but his summer uniform, or his P.E. uniform was her favourite. She enjoyed being on the cheer team, not only to show off how much better she was than Sansa, but also to cheer on Rickon at his games. She knew she'd have another chance soon, both to teach Shireen another lesson and to see Rickon. She passed both their classes on her way to the cafeteria. However when she found her targets she froze, she couldn't believe what she was seeing, it didn't make sense. Shireen and Rickon, her Rickon, walking together, holding hands like…like a couple.

'_What the hell, no way, this can't be right, the only reason anyone would date her is her money, and Rickon's already rich.'_ She thought to herself desperately.

She shook her head as she watched them, she had to think, why, why was her Rickon even been seen with Shireen Baratheon.

She couldn't comprehend it; the girl was just ugly, way too skinny with no ass of chest, compared to Ellyn with her D-cups and perfect ass. She kept her shirt done up to the last button while Ellyn ensured at least the top two buttons of hers were undone to show off her cleavage, not to mention she mostly covered her legs wearing those knee socks. Ellyn would've worn nothing on her legs if she had the option, but since she couldn't she found that see through tights had much the same effect, she still showed off her legs. Shireen also wore a scarf to cover some of the horrible grey skin that covered the left side of her neck, but could do nothing for the skin on her left cheek. Being so pale the grey mottled flesh showed easily on the girl.

'_Not to mention she's so boring, reading those stupid books all the time.' _Ellyn thought savagely. _'She can't dance or do anything like that, she's nowhere near outgoing enough, always on her own or with those two other losers…Rickon deserves way better.'_

As she watched Rickon put his arm around Shireen's waist and whispered something to her. They both laughed and then, to Ellyn's horror Rickon kissed Shireen on her left cheek.

'_Ugh, he better wash his mouth after that.'_ She thought in disgust. _'My Rickon wouldn't kiss Shireen's ugly grey skin, it could make him sick.'_

Suddenly something occurred to her. _'Wait that's what it is, a bet. The football team have started a bet to see who can fuck ugly little Shireen Baratheon first. That's gotta be it; Rickon can still be mine.'_

Satisfied with that she headed to the cafeteria; already plotting how to speed things along so she could get to Rickon.

Bran smiled as he sat down on the couch in the Reed's living room. He had just come from school with Jojen and when they arrived they met Meera who was waiting for them. He sat next to her on the couch, watching her out the corner of his eye. He had continued to hang out with both siblings, a lot, over the past few weeks and his feelings for Meera deepened every day. She was beautiful to him, even when she wore her preferred clothing of sweatpants and baggy T-shirt's rather than more feminine clothes, even when she was hot and sweaty after playing football or basketball. While they were sitting Jojen had to leave with his mother on an errand. He was left alone with Meera, they were watching TV; Bran had tried and failed many times to tell her how he felt. He decided now was the time to man up and tell the truth.

He cleared his throat and asked. "Meera, I was wondering, would you…like to go to the movies?"

She turned to him and smiled.

"Sure, let's just ask Jojen when he gets back; I'm sure he's free."

"No I meant…just the two of us, you know…Like…" He trailed off; unsure of the right words to use. But Meera's wide-eyed expression told him she understood.

"Like a date?" She whispered.

He nodded, suddenly worried, why did she look so horrified.

She suddenly scooted further away from him along the couch; shaking her head.

"What, Bran no, I'm twenty-two, you're my brother's age…You're just a kid."

Bran scowled at that. "I'm not, I'm fifteen."

Meera groaned. "Which makes it illegal."

"But I want to…" Bran began but Meera cut him off.

"You're too young to understand, to know what you really want…We could get hurt."

Bran fought back tears; he couldn't cry, not now. "Meera…"

"Sorry Bran, it's impossible." She said sadly. "I think, I shouldn't hang out with Jojen at the same time as you…It'll be too awkward."

She stood up but Bran shook his head. "No, I'll go. Just tell Jojen, my mum called or something."

With that he hurried out of the house and made his way home. Once home he avoided the rest of the family and threw himself on the bed. He felt as if someone had torn out his heart and stamped on it. It hurt so much, he didn't understand; how could it have possibly hurt more if she said yes? When he finally cried himself dry he got changed, put on a brave face and went downstairs. There he was surprised to see Rickon sitting with Shireen of all people. Rickon looked up and smiled at him.

"Hey Bran, I was looking for you." He said. Shireen smiled too and greeted him kindly.

He managed a smile back. "What's up?"

Rickon fumbled slightly but recovered. "I…I've already told everyone else, but…Shireen and I are dating now."

Bran felt a slight pang, remembering his own failure but he truly felt happy for Rickon and congratulated the happy couple. Even if Meera refused him, he felt that at least somebody should be happy in love, why not Rickon.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	9. Chapter 9

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 9 of my Game of Thrones story; enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, he is :)  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; glad you enjoyed Rickon/Shireen, I know, poor Bran, but Meera is doing what she thinks is best. They certainly are.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Catelyn sighed; she felt like, no matter what she did, everything seemed to be going against her. She still couldn't believe Arya would resort to such ridiculous means to try and get attention. First cutting and dying her hair just to draw attention to herself; now lying about Sansa's boyfriend.

'_I can't believe she's that jealous and desperate she'd try and sabotage Sansa and Joffrey's relationship.'_ She thought sadly. _'I've seen them, Sansa and Joffrey get along perfectly, there's nothing wrong with them.'_

She shook her head; it wasn't just the issues with Arya either; Bran was acting strange too. Despite her best efforts he had refused to say anything; however she could see he was upset about something.

'_How could this have happened?' _She shook her head. _'Am I really that bad a mother my children need to act out or refuse to share their problems with me…Do they, do they know about the arguments Ned and I are having…Have they really come to hate me so much they don't trust me anymore? They would side with him in the arguments; he's their hero after all…What does that make me?'_

She shook her head; she couldn't think like that, although she feared it was true. She felt like the whole family blamed her for Jon leaving, it had been that one incident which seemed to spark all this off after all. She supposed her relief at no longer having to deal with the guilt she felt whenever she saw Jon made her seem insensitive. But she hated thinking about it; it brought back bad memories, especially regarding Lyanna.

She was pulled out of her thoughts however by the sound of laughter; her youngest child, Rickon. She smiled; at least she didn't have to worry about Rickon, he was in the beginnings of what was so far a happy relationship with Shireen Baratheon. She smiled as she watched Shireen and Rickon, they were sitting on the couch watching TV; Rickon had his arm around her. She was surprised that her wild son had chosen to date Shireen who she knew was a meek, quiet girl. Still, she hoped Shireen would be able to calm Rickon's wildness. The relationship would be good for Shireen too she hoped, she knew the poor girl was very lonely; her parents never seemed to have time for her and she only had three other friends, that Catelyn knew of. Catelyn watched them; so far Rickon did not seem to be aware of the increasing strain between his parents, for which she was grateful. Still it frightened her sometimes how much Rickon reminded her of Brandon; Ned's older brother whom she had dated before his untimely death. It was at least a year after Brandon's death that she had got together with Ned; they grew together as they comforted each other over Brandon's death. She was broken out of her memories by a knock at the door. She opened it and saw it was Robb.

"Mum, are you ready?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yes, let's get going."

She left the house and joined Robb and Jeyne in the car; it was time to fix things with Walder Frey.

It did not take them long to arrive at the Twins; the infamous mansion home of the Frey's with its two large medieval turrets; one on either side of the house. The turrets were all that remained from the old building that had been in the family since the middle ages. The rest of the house was more modern, a large mansion, larger than the Starks manor, to accommodate the inordinately large Frey family. When they entered the mansion however, most of the family was out. The only people in the house waiting for them were elderly Walder Frey himself, along with Roslin and one of Walder's sons, Lothar. Lothar was sitting separately from the others; he nodded as they came in. Walder's expression remained hostile, as did Roslin's.

"So you're here…" Walder growled as they sat down. "..Although I don't see the point in this; I already know what's happened…And this is her then."

He glared at Jeyne who, to her credit, did not flinch or look away. Robb put an arm around her protectively and nodded.

"Yes, this is Jeyne." He stated tensely. "I don't know what Roslin told you Walder; but…"

Walder glared more fiercely. "She told me enough…About how you broke up with her for no reason, then started cavorting around with this girl. How you broke off a perfectly good and beneficial relationship, for some other girl."

Catelyn sighed; she knew it was time for her to intervene, before Robb's temper got the better of him and a full blown argument happened, which would make this impossible to salvage.

She cleared her throat and spoke, keeping as calm as possible.

"Walder; you're only listening to your daughter's side of the story. What you've just said…That's not how I heard it from Robb." She explained. "Robb told me, he and your daughter have been rocky for ages; in the end it was Roslin who broke things off with him."

Roslin glared at Catelyn, her face red, either with rage or embarrassment Catelyn couldn't say for sure.

"They're lying dad, don't believe them." Roslin burst out quickly. "You can't trust her; she's biased, she's his mother after all."

Before Walder could reply Catelyn added. "I wouldn't just go by your daughter's word either; you can't say she's not biased either."

Roslin glared and was about to retort when Walder seemed to decide something.

"You are right Mrs. Stark." He said suddenly; shocking Roslin. "There's only one way to resolve this, we need a witness…who saw everything, but…"

It was then Lothar spoke up, surprising everyone.

"I was there dad, I saw it all." He said suddenly.

They all froze, watching him. They knew his words would determine if the truth would be heard; however being Roslin's brother, Catelyn was concerned he would side with her, despite not being that close. They soon got their answer when Lothar spoke again.

"I don't know why, all I know is…Mrs. Stark is right; Roslin and Robb have been rocky for a long time, their relationship was just…falling apart, no matter what they did, it just led to arguments."

Roslin looked stunned; unwilling to believe her brother had betrayed her.

Walder however seemed satisfied; Robb and Jeyne smiled, they knew that for one of his own family to take their side, would strongly convince Walder they were telling the truth.

"Well, that pretty much settles it." He remarked; looking surprised at what he had heard, he turned to Roslin and scowled. "Care to explain why you lied to me Roslin?"

Roslin looked like she was choking on her own tongue. Walder sighed.

"I'll deal with this soon enough." He turned to Robb and Jeyne. "As for you two, well; all I can say is good luck, now please, leave. I have to deal with my daughter."

"Dad…" Roslin began, trying to continue her claim but Walder was clearly convinced of the truth now.

Lothar's statement had done that much to help Robb nodded in thanks to him as they left. Lothar merely grimaced, anticipating the shouting match that was about to occur. Relieved to get out of the house they hurried back to Robb's car.

"That actually went better than I thought." Robb stated.

Catelyn smiled; relieved that something seemed to go right for once. "It was Lothar really; if he didn't decide the truth was more important…well, Walder would never have listened to reason and we'd still be in trouble. I must say though, I'm glad I'm not Roslin, the lecture she should be getting about now."

Relieved at their success Robb drove his mother home; now looking forward to settling down and having a normal relationship with Jeyne.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please. For those who think it was too easy, remember what Catelyn said; it was because Lothar spoke up that Walder was convinced.


	10. Chapter 10

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 10 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well, the Frey's actually only have a small role in this story.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, she's got a dark secret involving Lyanna.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Arya glared, it was yet another day at school. She was stalking through the corridors in a black mood; she found that, no matter what she did, nobody seemed to believe her that Joffrey was abusing Sansa. Yet Sansa refused to admit the truth; Arya wasn't going to stand for this; she knew what she was going to do now. She planned to find Joffrey and deal with him herself. Yet when she found him, it was to find him abusing Sansa again. She knew now enough was enough and hurried over to them, nobody else was around, typical.

"Hey!" She cried as she approached.

Joffrey turned to face her, still gripping Sansa's wrists tightly, tight enough to leave bruises. He glared at her. "What do you want!?" He snapped.

Arya returned the glare with equal ferocity, if not more. "I think it's obvious, you're hurting my sister…again."

Joffrey snarled.

"Excuse me, are you accusing me of…" Arya nodded and Joffrey snarled again. "How dare you bitch, you have no right."

"Arya, leave it." Sansa cried. "It's fine, it's not what you thi…"

"Stop lying Sansa!" Arya yelled.

Sansa shook her head. "I swear everything's…"

"I told you to shut up!" Joffrey yelled at her, pushing her up against the wall, hard.

That was enough for Arya who promptly launched herself at Joffrey and, without really caring what she was doing, attacked him. Suddenly; they were forced apart by the faculty and Arya found herself being taken to the principal's office and she knew right away she was in trouble.

Arya stood in front of the Principal's desk; she had been forced to wait outside while he had spoken to Joffrey and then called his mother. Cersei had glared at her when she passed; there had been more talking, raised voices and Cersei and Joffrey left before Arya was called in. The Principal looked at her seriously.

"Miss Stark, explain yourself, you know we have a zero tolerance on bullying and violence."

Arya glared. "I was defending my sister; Joffrey's been abusing her and I was trying to stop him."

The Principal sighed. "Do you have any proof of this?"

"I've seen the bruises; I've seen him attacking her."

"I'm afraid I can't just take your word for it, Miss Stark." He stated. "We better get your sister in here."

Arya fought to keep herself calm; her only hope was Sansa actually told the truth. Almost immediately the look on Sansa's face was enough to convince Arya that that wouldn't be the case.

'_Dammit Sansa; why can't you just tell the truth already.'_ She thought desperately. _'Now I'm going to be blamed for attacking Joffrey for no reason.'_

Sure enough; when asked, Sansa sat silent for a moment and then shook her head.

"Nothing; nothing's wrong with me and Joffrey, he's not…"

"You lair!" Arya screamed as she leapt up.

The Principal glared. "That's enough Miss Stark, sit down. Now, it's clear to me that your excuse is just that; if your sister can offer no corroboration, I see no proof. We will have to deal with your punishment soon, in the meantime, both of you will wait while I call your mother."

The Principal picked up the phone and made the call; Arya glared at Sansa, she had never hated her sister more than now.

Catelyn was working when her phone rang.

"Hello?" She said as she picked it up.

She was surprised when the caller turned out to be the Principal of Royal Rivers Academy; she was immediately worried, which one of her children was the reason for this call.

"Mrs. Stark; I need you to come down, I'm afraid your younger daughter is in serious trouble."

"I…of course, I'll be right there; thank you." She replied and then hung up. _'Oh Gods, what's Arya done now.'_

She spoke to her boss and then headed out to her car and drove to the school. She headed to the Principal's office; her daughters were there, Sansa looked down while Arya was glaring at her for some reason.

The Principal stood and shook her hand before they sat down. "Thank you for coming, Mrs. Stark."

"Of course, what's happened?" She asked; worried.

"We caught your younger daughter assaulting Joffrey Baratheon." He explained; Catelyn was horrified by this revelation. "As you know, we have a zero tolerance on bullying."

Catelyn cleared her throat, she had to try and control the damage. "I'm sure Arya is sorry…"

"I'm not!" Arya yelled. "He was hurting Sansa, abusing her, that's why she's here."

Catelyn fought hard not to groan. _'This again, honestly Arya, this jealousy is getting out of control, it's no excuse to assault the boy.'_

The Principal shook his head. "I'm afraid this 'claim' is unsubstantiated and your other daughter claims that no such event took place. Mr. Baratheon claimed the same thing and it seems he is telling the truth."

Catelyn sighed; she couldn't believe it had come to this.

She shook her head and continued.

"I'm truly sorry; she…I'm sure Arya just lost control; she's jealous of their relationship and…"

"I'm not!" Arya screamed indignantly.

Catelyn continued however. "…They're kids; things…get out of control."

The Principal shook his head. "I'm afraid that's not good enough. We shall be giving her detention for a month…I would suggest you consider a punishment for her at home, also, the boy's mother is pressing charges of assault on her, so be warned, the police will be around some time tonight."

Catelyn nodded and finally left with Arya and Sansa. The whole ride back they were quiet, Arya sullen. Catelyn couldn't believe it; how could her daughter be so spiteful and cold, not even showing remorse for her actions. When they arrived at home Sansa headed for her room; Arya was about to go upstairs but Catelyn stopped her.

"Mum."

Catelyn shook her head. "I can't believe you Arya; you have no right to just attack Joffrey for no reason."

Arya growled. "It was Joffrey…"

"Enough Arya!" Catelyn was losing her temper now. "I'm sick of you trying to blame your sister, at least take responsibility for your actions."

Catelyn knew she would have to decide an appropriate punishment and inform Ned of what happened.

Arya couldn't believe it; her mother wouldn't believe her. She was only trying to protect her sister but nobody believed her; just because they always fought everybody assumed she was jealous and acting out.

Catelyn shook her head. "Your behaviour has been deplorable these past couple of months; this can't go on. In response to this however, until you understand what you did was wrong, you're banned from Fencing."

"What, mum…?!"

"That's final, now, go to your room."

Arya headed upstairs; still unable to believe it.

'_This is so unfair…There's gotta be some way I can convince them, but…they've just…ugh.'_

Her thoughts quickly changed from upset to angry; she threw herself on the bed and scowled; her anger festering. She remained that way until she heard a knock at the front door. She slipped out of her room and hid just at the top of the stairs as her mother answered the door. Her fears were justified when she saw it was the police.

"Mrs. Stark, I believe you were informed about our arrival." Her mother nodded and the officer continued. "She's being charged for assault; this matter will have to be resolved in court…I would advise getting her a good lawyer."

Her mother nodded. "I understand, thank you officer, we'll take care of it."

The officer nodded and after some more words he left. After that Arya went back to her room, locking the door. She hated that her mum didn't believe her; she knew Jon would, dad normally would but mom could always convince him she was right. She refused to talk to her mother and Sansa at dinner and barely spoke to her father as he sided with her mother, she returned to her room afterwards, in an even blacker mood than ever. She hated everything right now.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it. In case you're wondering about how the Principal just listened to Sansa's denial and believed it, remember Sansa is the most popular and well liked student in school, so most people are biased in her favour, even when she's lying. Anyway, read and review please :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 11 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, it sure is; well she's not giving up, just wait and see, a few important things happen in this chapter.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.  
Veridissima: Yeah, it's pretty bad, just wait and see what happens; glad you enjoyed it :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Rickon smiled as he kissed Shireen again; he was glad her parents were out. They were currently in her living room, on the couch, kissing each other. Shireen smiled into the kiss; she couldn't believe how lucky she was to be with Rickon. They had been dating for a few months now. However something happened and the moment broke for her; Rickon's hand gently slid under her shirt, touching the skin of her back. Almost immediately her usual insecurities took hold of her and she panicked. She pulled back from the kiss.

"Please, don't!" She gasped.

Rickon froze and suddenly his hand withdrew; he looked at her, confused. She suddenly felt guilty; she realized that Rickon didn't mean her any harm.

Rickon sighed and shook his head. "I wasn't going to do anything; I just…I just wanted to…" He tried to explain.

Shireen lowered her head as she finished his sentence for him. "Touch?"

He nodded, blushing slightly and Shireen mentally cursed herself again.

'_Stupid, stupid.'_ She thought sadly. _'I…He only wanted to touch me, under my clothes, just once…I overreacted and now once again we're stuck, not going forwards.'_

Rickon sighed; he and Shireen had been dating for months and had only just barely reached first base; despite his attempts to encourage her to move forwards she was reticent to his attempts, leaving them stuck and made him feel frustrated. Still he didn't let any of this show on his face, instead smiling and gently kissing her scarred cheek.

"It's alright." He then saw the clock. "Oh, sorry, I should be going home, mum will be wondering where I am."

She nodded and saw him out, still feeling guilty, but praying things would change soon.

Arya was fuming; the court case went completely against her and she was now being fined for assault. Worse than that, the past week she had seen more and more bruises, but still Sansa hid them and none of the family believed Arya. She decided to take action, it would be impossible for them to deny the truth now when confronted by it. So she waited; ready to make her move. Sansa headed for the shower; she waited and, once certain her sister was in the shower she sneaked into the bathroom. She made sure not to make a sound, Sansa never saw Arya as she grabbed Sansa's shirt and slipped out of the bathroom. She then hurried to Sansa's room, locked it and lay in wait. Meanwhile, unaware of what was going on just down the hall, Bran sat on his bed. Once again he was feeling down, no matter how hard he tried he still couldn't get Meera out of his mind.

'_She's so beautiful; but she…why can't she see, how much I love her.'_ He thought sadly. _'I can't deny she's right, the age gap is enough, technically illegal.'_

He sighed; he still couldn't let it go; once, when going to Jojen's he had run into her as she was leaving. She had managed a tight smile; said hello and left, Bran had been distracted all day after that. No matter what happened, he couldn't forget about her, he felt like it was eating him up inside.

Sansa sighed as she finished her shower; she quickly dried herself and looked at herself in the mirror. She was subconsciously twisting a lock of hair around her finger, a nervous habit she had developed. She looked at the bruises covering various parts of her body.

'_He did hurt me, but he'll change, I know it…He doesn't mean it.'_ She told herself. _'He's just under a lot of pressure, his parents expecting so much from him; he doesn't know how to deal with it.'_

She went to get dressed, pulled on her underwear and jeans. She looked around, her shirt was gone. She knew right away where it had gone; only one person would've taken it, especially without her realizing.

"Arya." She growled and left the bathroom to confront her sister.

She then froze, without her shirt the bruises, especially the ones on her arms and stomach, were exposed. She hurried to her bedroom only to find it locked.

"Arya!"

At that moment Arya appeared, clutching Sansa's shirt as she darted downstairs. Sansa was so incensed she forgot her current predicament and pursued her. She froze as she realized she was standing in front of her mother now, and her mother could see the bruises.

She tried desperately to speak. "Mum, Arya took my clothes."

Arya shook her head. "Mum, you need to see…Please, just look, now do you believe me?!"

Catelyn was staring in shock at the bruises.

Catelyn couldn't believe what she was seeing; this couldn't be possible, but she knew it was.

'_I don't believe it…Arya, Arya was telling the truth all along.'_ Catelyn realized. _'I should…but Sansa. One thing at a time, deal with the issue right in front of me first.'_

"Sansa." She breathed. "Those bruises…"

She reached towards her daughter but Sansa flinched away.

"It's nothing mum." She tried to deflect.

Arya cut in, her voice raised. "It was Joffrey."

Cat hesitated, Arya was telling the truth about the bruises; maybe she was right.

Sansa however shook her head. "It wasn't.!"

However Catelyn noted her daughter was looking away, a sure sign of lying.

"Sansa…" She warned.

Sansa cut across her. "He didn't mean to, he was just trying to help me. It was an accident."

Catelyn sighed; she couldn't take any risks; she had to stop this.

"Sansa, this clearly isn't an accident, I don't want you hanging out with him anymore."

"No!" Sansa replied suddenly. "I love him, you can't stop me."

With that she turned and darted back upstairs. Catelyn turned to Arya who stood silent, still looking sullen. Before Cat could say anything however Sansa remembered her door was locked and yelled downstairs.

"Arya!"

Arya rolled her eyes and ran up after her sister.

Arya reached the top of the stairs; Sansa was glaring at her. Before Sansa could argue with her Arya threw the key to her and retreated into her room, closing the door behind her. She sighed and threw herself on the bed, wincing as she accidentally hit her head on the headboard.

'_I hate it when I do that.'_ She thought to herself, rubbing the spot. _'Well, now mum knows I'm telling the truth, even if Sansa still won't break up with that asshole. Maybe now mum will tell dad and he can do something.'_

She ignored the knock at the door, it was most likely Sansa trying to complain to her again; complaining about her 'ruining her relationship' again. However the knock came again and then the voice.

"Arya, please, open the door."

She stood up. "Mum."

She went and opened the door; her mother stood there and when Arya stepped back she stepped into the room. The awkward tension hung in the air until finally Catelyn sighed.

"Arya I…I'm sorry I didn't believe you." She said finally. "I…"

Arya shook her head. "I just wanted to help Sansa; all this time, I just wanted to help her. I know we don't get on all the time but I really was trying to help her."

"I know." Catelyn replied. "I promise, we'll deal with this now, okay."

Arya nodded; they heard the door open, Arya was confused; it was too early for dad to be home. Her mother however provided the answer.

"Oh, Rickon's home; I have to get dinner ready…I'll see you then."

Arya managed to smile and nodded; dinner had been tense ever since the court case, with Arya refusing to talk to anyone. Maybe now things wouldn't be so hard.

Jojen was confused; he didn't know what could've possibly happened between his best friend and his sister; but they were both acting awkward, unable to even be in the same room together, Meera always left whenever Bran was coming over. Meera meanwhile sat in her room; she sighed as she looked out of the window.

'_Bran…Gods, what have I done?'_ She wondered quietly. _'He's still too young, but…he's more mature than most people I know, did I, did I do the right thing? I broke the poor boys heart, even if it was for the best…or was it?'_

She didn't have an answer, but one thing remained constant, Bran was still in her thoughts and he wouldn't get out.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	12. Chapter 12

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 12 of my Game of Thrones story; enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Glad you enjoyed it.  
zJordan: Glad you liked it, it's stated that Ned is a business man, head of Stark Industries.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, things are changing rapidly.  
rubini25: Yeah, she certainly is; yeah, it's pretty bad for Bran. As for Robb; he needed to sort things out so the Frey's didn't cause any trouble, and it is in fact sorted; he brought them along to sort the issue out. Well, remember how Arya's been behaving and how Cat would view that. Don't forget Arya's temper, that's what prompted her to retaliate; but yes, things will soon heat up again. Well, just wait and see what happens next.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Arya sighed; another day at school; more unfavourable comparisons from the teachers and Sansa's friends, another bad mood. The only bright sides she could see being that today was Friday and she also got to witness an argument between Myrcella and Ellyn Bolton with Myrcella quitting the cheer team and even slapping Ellyn across the face. Luckily for Myrcella, unlike Arya she hadn't been caught; Arya was also relieved that Myrcella wasn't some airhead cheerleader liked most of the others; it helped change her opinion about the Baratheon girl. She was now home from school and currently stood in front of the mirror clad in just her underwear, a simple black thong and black lace edged bra. She sighed; she couldn't see anything wrong with her, so her hair was a mess, so her breasts weren't as big as Sansa's, why did people keep insisting on comparing the two, she was her own person. Shaking her head she quickly got dressed. She pulled on a pair of navy blue jeans, a black tight tank-top and black arm socks with a mesh pattern. She pulled on simple socks and then headed downstairs. The rest of the family was already waiting at the dinner table, Arya could feel the tension, but knew for once; she wasn't the cause of it. Sansa glared at her but Arya ignored the glare as she sat down. She looked around at the others, only Rickon looked happy, Bran seemed upset as he had been for some time and things were clearly not well between her parents, despite them putting on a brave face.

Arya continued her meal, but she was seriously getting worried about her parents. She wondered if the others saw it, if so, why hadn't they said anything. She wondered if she would have to be the one courageous enough to ask. Maybe if she did they could finally work out the truth, maybe even help their parents. However before she could say anything the phone rang, her father went up to answer it. The meal continued, slowly, Arya began to grow more and more nervous. Dad had been on the phone for a long while and he was looking worried. Finally dad returned to the table and everybody turned to look at him, he looked broken, defeated. A sense of dread enveloped the room; he then spoke and Arya felt her heart break into a million pieces.

"That was the army base…after, after a bombing, they found Jon had gone missing." He stopped, collected himself and continued. "Later, they found a charred corpse, most likely his, amongst the ruins of the building he was in."

The words went right through them and hit them, Arya most of all, like a freight train, Jon was missing and, more than likely, dead.

"Arya…are you okay?" She could hear the voice but had no idea where it came from.

It was like everything had slowed down, she was barely aware of her surroundings; tears stung her eyes; she couldn't believe it, it couldn't be real, it just couldn't.

She then heard the voice calling to her again.

"Arya."

She then found her voice and replied, louder than she initially intended. "Of course I'm not okay, he's dead!"

She then heard her mother reply. "They _think_ he's dead Arya, they've got no proof yet."

Arya just stared at her mother; she could see sadness in the eyes of everybody else, but not her mother. Even Sansa looked upset.

"You…" She growled. "It's your fault, you made him leave."

Her father shook his head. "Arya, enough…"

"No." She snapped; she couldn't take it anymore, the anger inside her boiled over and she was engulfed by her rage. "It's all your fault mum, you made him leave…I hate you!"

She leapt up and, ignoring her father's yells, or any of the other family members she left and immediately pulled on her black combat boots and her jacket, no, Jon's jacket, the one he left for her, it would never be hers, always his. She felt a hand at her shoulder and brushed it away, she then heard her mother's voice.

"Arya, you shouldn't say things like that…I get you're angry but…"

Arya simply glared and spat out the words. "You don't deserve to be called a mother."

She then yanked the front door open and stormed out; she just wanted to get away, to escape it all; but it didn't matter that she had left, or how fast she went, the pain lingered constantly in her heart.

She was so pissed she didn't even think of where to go, or what she was going to do, she just got on the first bus she saw, took the first available seat and sat, tears running down her face, along her jaw to her chin and dripping off onto her lap. There were only a few other people on the bus and they all looked happy and cheerful, so completely unaware of the death that had just occurred. She wished it was all a lie, a joke, that Jon could somehow still be there to comfort her, or at least call her and prove he was alive. But it never happened, it never would, she knew that, but just couldn't accept it. By the time she was aware of her surroundings again the bus was empty, she was the only passenger, it had stopped and the driver announced.

"Last stop, King's Landing."

Arya knew she had no other choice, she got off the bus; the driver didn't call her back so she guessed she must've paid while in her trance like state. She looked around, wondering what she could do; only one thought passes through her head.

'_The pain, it's too much, I need to find some way to just…go numb.'_ She paused and then remembered something. _'Jon and Robb needed that at one point…'_

She made up her mind and began to walk. She hugged Jon's jacket tighter around her, her last link to her favourite cousin. The tears continued to fall as she walked; a dark haired man walks past her and she stops for a second, thinking it was him, she wanted it to be him, but it wasn't. She sighed and wiped away the tears, composing herself, she needed to be focused for this.

She finally reaches Flea Bottom and looks around; she finds what she's looking for, a bar. The bouncer outside was huge, almost eight feet tall but thankfully, not that bright. He glared at her suspiciously, his muscles made Robb and Jon's look puny, she showed him the fake ID she had. It was a pretty good fake, almost indistinguishable from a real one; the only difference being the fake ID listed her date of birth two years earlier than it really was, making her eighteen. Once inside she noticed the place was actually part bar, part nightclub. Still that didn't faze her, she immediately went up to the bar and sat down, holding her fake ID ready, in case she was asked for proof of age. The barman walked up and she cleared her throat.

"Whiskey on the rocks." She told him; that had been Jon's drink of choice.

The bartender smirked. "That's no drink for a lady."

She scowled at him and he poured the drink; she took a sip and spent some time nursing the drink; she then ordered a beer to cut the feeling the whiskey left in her throat. An hour later a young man, in his early twenties she guessed, entered. He had shaggy black hair and blue eyes, he was rather muscular too. He was dressed in black leather jeans, a black and white shirt, simple black boots and a black leather biker jacket. He sat down next to her and she tensed.

She was afraid he would start talking to her, she wasn't in the mood. However he simply ordered a beer and sat drinking it, looking alone and broken, like her. She didn't know what came over her, but when he looked like he was about to break down she extended her hand to him, touched his shoulder. He turned and looked at her, saw her expression and just like that they connected and helped each other survive the bar. After that, things got a bit hazy for Arya; she knew they had drank together, started talking, even laughing as the drink flowed more freely, even danced together when the music started. The upshot of it all was she ended up back at his apartment; neither of them seemed aware of the implications of what they were doing. The alcohol fuelled their actions and dulled their inhibitions and they were kissing, undressed each other, soon down to their underwear. After he removed her bra he started to knead and later kissed and sucked her breasts as they fell on the bed. She moaned and soon had her thong and his white boxers off. After some fumbling around and finding protection they drunkenly made love, Arya gasped as her barrier broke; she gave him her virginity. They eventually reached their peak and both came. She was barely aware of the young man removing the condom before they both passed out, both from the drink and the sex, all Arya was aware of was, the pain she had felt before had indeed been dulled and her sleep was peaceful.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it; I think we all know of course, who the young man was, even though he hasn't been named. His and Arya's outfits are on the profile page, enjoy. Please read and review.


	13. Chapter 13

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 13 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well, you can only wait and see; well, she is enraged at this point.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you liked it.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you liked it, I know, she's going through a rough patch, well, we can only wait and see what happens next.  
zJordan: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; actually I got the opinion of Ned that he didn't hide things like that, besides, how else was he supposed to have said it.  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yes well, she was actually trying to control herself, she was in fact in deep emotional conflict; yeah, she was really pissed off; but as you'll see, she regrets it. Well, you're about to get your answer.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

The young man groaned as he woke up. His head was pounding and his throat dry; he screwed up his eyes and slowly opened them; trying to adjust to the light filtering in through the blinds.

'_Hangover.'_ He noted ruefully. _'How much _did_ I drink last night?'_

He carefully lifted his head and then became aware of the figure next to him. He also became aware that both he and the other figure were naked. With their body pressed up against his he noted the figure was female. He peered at the girl as best he could; all he could make out was short, badly dyed black hair and pale skin. He could a bit of her profile; he bit his lip; he couldn't deny the girl was beautiful. He managed to get himself out of bed and began searching for clothes; he could see the clothes the girl must've been wearing too. He pulled on some boxers and then saw a pair of jeans. He headed over and picked them up, accidentally knocking the girl's jacket off the chair when suddenly two things fell out of the pocket. He knelt down and examined them, one was an ID card; the other was a wallet; but there was already an ID card in the wallet. He picked them up, looking at them closer. The ID in the wallet gave her age as sixteen, the other as eighteen.

'_Nobody pretends to be younger than they are…especially if they want to get into a bar…That means…'_

It suddenly dawned on him, she was only sixteen.

He turned to face her as he heard her moan as she woke up, also with a hangover. She sat up; apparently forgetting her state of undress as the blanket fell down, exposing her breasts. He forced himself to focus, not to be distracted by them and he spoke.

"Sixteen?" He remarked; his voice tense.

She turned to him quickly and then screwed her eyes shut; likely dizzy from turning her head too fast.

"You're only sixteen." He repeated.

She then saw what he was holding and sighed. "Yeah, okay, I am sixteen, I used the other ID to get into the bar and drink."

He shook his head. "That's not the point, think about what we did last night!"

She shook her head. "Relax, you're…oh."

She looked down and saw she was naked and immediately put it all together.

"So we…" He nodded and she sighed. "…And we then…" He nodded again; she bit her lip. "Did we use…?"

He looked over at the bin and found some relief from his problem, there was a discarded condom in there, it wasn't there yesterday, he knew that for certain. He nodded again and she relaxed.

She smiled. "Okay, so we had sex, but we used protection, what's the big deal?"

He was stunned, did she not see?

"The big deal is you're only sixteen, you're underage!" He yelled. "I'm twenty-three…"

She raised an eyebrow. "No need to yell, calm down."

He groaned; she really didn't get it.

He shook his head.

"Calm down." He echoed. "Yeah, I guess it's okay for you, you can calm down. You're not the one who has to worry about getting arrested!"

She had got out of the bed, surprisingly unselfconscious despite her nakedness. She tilted her head, confused. "What, you don't have to worry about getting arrested."

"I do; you're underage, I'm twenty-three, you're sixteen. I can get arrested for statutory rape!" He yelled again.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you could, if I told anyone; which I'm not going to. Why would I?"

That caught him off guard. "Um…Fair point."

She rolled her eyes again. "Exactly; now calm down."

He nodded slowly and sat down heavily on the chair as she began to get dressed; pulling on the clothes she wore yesterday. He tired hard not to stare at her; despite his anger and the agitation he felt he still couldn't deny she was beautiful. He had noticed those steel grey eyes as she spoke to him, they mesmerized him. He shook his head; he couldn't think like that. He saw her looking at his clock and biting her bottom lip.

"What's wrong?" He asked; feeling concerned despite himself.

She sighed. "The reason I'm here…I ran away from home, upset, I…I said some bad things to my mother; but…I should go home, try and make it right."

He nodded slowly, ignoring the pang in his heart, she had a mother. "That would be the best thing. It's not good to have a bad relationship with your mother…Especially when you have one."

She looked at him and cringed, realizing what he meant. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be…I'm fine about it." He lied.

The girl bit her lip again and made up her mind.

She squared her shoulders and walked up to him. He tensed; he noticed she didn't wear any perfume, but her natural scent was more intoxicating than any perfume.

"My wallet and…um…" She held out her hand; seemingly unwilling to mention the fake ID.

He nodded and handed it to her. She pocketed both items and began to head for the door. The young man leaned back in the chair and felt the hangover effects again. He groaned; then to his shock, he heard the girl's voice again.

"Oh yeah." He turned; she stood by the door. "We didn't tell each other our names…At least, I don't think so"

He sighed and nodded; she was right, maybe they had when drunk, but neither remembered. He introduced himself. "I'm Gendry, Gendry Waters."

"Arya." She replied as she opened the door, raising her hand in a casual wave goodbye. "Arya Stark."

She closed the door and he remained sitting, staring in shock and horror.

_Stark; the daughter of Eddard Stark, head of Stark Enterprises?'_ His thoughts raced. _'Oh Gods, now I'm really praying she meant it when she said she wouldn't tell anyone.'_

What he thought had simply been a night of drunken debauchery had become more complicated. He had drunkenly made love to the youngest daughter of one of the richest and most important men in Westeros. This was certainly not what he had anticipated happening when he left home that night. Yet despite this, he strangely found his thoughts being drawn to Arya Stark and a strange feeling stirred in his chest. He shook his head, he couldn't think like this; his head was pounding again, he decided his best option just now was to take a shower and he hurried to the bathroom.

Outside the apartment building Arya took a deep breath and wrinkled her nose at the usual 'big city' stink of Kings Landing. She made up her mind and began walking.

'_Okay, it may have happened while we were both drunk but…I've lost my virginity.'_ She thought to herself as she walked. _'It feels…strange, and, Gendry Waters; he…What am I thinking?'_

She shook her head and got on the nearest bus heading for Winterfell and rode home. She got off the bus and walked up the pathway to the front door. She bit her lip, took a deep breath and then opened the door. What she saw surprised her; her mother was standing in the hallway, talking to a police officer.

"Arya!" Her mother gasped as she darted past the officer and pulled her into a tight hug.

Arya was shocked by the hug; finally she managed to choke out. "Mum, I can't breathe."

Her mother let her go, looking apologetic; the officer stepped up.

"Well, since your daughter's here…I guess you won't be needing to file that missing persons report." He remarked.

Catelyn nodded and the officer left; she turned to Arya. Arya bowed her head and shifted her feet.

"Mum, I…"

Catelyn shook her head. "Where were you?"

Arya shook her head. "It…It doesn't matter; I'm safe, I'm fine…Isn't that enough."

"I…of course, I just…" Catelyn sighed.

Finally Arya stepped back.

"I'm going to take a shower." She remarked before heading upstairs.

Catelyn thought quietly and decided it was time to talk to Arya, to try and sort things out.

Arya came out of the shower, wrapped a towel around herself and headed to her room. She quickly got dressed and then stopped as she heard a knock at the door. She turned and told the person to come in; her mother stepped in.

"Mum, I…" Arya began quickly. "I'm so sorry…I just, what happened last night, I didn't mean what I said…I just…"

Catelyn hurried over and hugged her youngest daughter. "It's okay Arya, I understand…you were angry, upset…everything you did, I know you didn't mean it."

Arya fought hard to keep the tears back but they fell anyway. Finally Catelyn sighed and sat down on the bed with Arya.

"Arya, I have something important to tell you." She said. "I…I just want you to know…the truth, the reason why, why I acted the way I did around Jon."

Arya looked up in surprise. Her mother continued. "It…It's just…I can't look at Jon, without feeling horribly guilty, because he reminds me so much…of his mother."  
"Aunt Lyanna?" Arya was surprised by this; had something happened to them. "What happened?"

"We…we argued that night…a bad argument…In, in the end Lyanna got so angry she just left, got in her car in that state and drove away…I made her like that; I upset her, I might as well have killed her myself."

Arya was horrified by this; she knew her aunt had died in a car crash, but not any details. Yet to hear this; she couldn't accept this, she hugged her mother.

"Mum no, don't think like that…It wasn't your fault." She said softly. "Yes, you two argued, but you didn't make Aunt Lyanna get in a car and drive while under such rage."

Catelyn smiled and returned the hug, grateful that her daughter at least seemed to understand.

That night Arya wrote in her diary about what happened the previous night and this morning. She sighed, she had left a gap at the very start, she wasn't sure what to put there. Once she finished she read what she wrote again and sighed. She wasn't one for mushy feeling; she wasn't going to write some stupid sickly sweet words. So she wrote something simple; might as well tell the truth. The diary was the place where her true feelings were stored after all, so she simply wrote 'I'm no longer a virgin.' She closed her diary and got into bed; her last thoughts before drifted off were of Gendry again.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	14. Chapter 14

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 14 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, well, she can't help but feel like that.  
zJordan: Thanks, just the way I picked it up, everybody has different views, anyway, hope you continue to enjoy.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, well, they'll meet again soon.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Shireen sighed as she opened her locker; she had stayed after school to study in the library. She knew however she had to get home soon; her cousin Edric and her friend Devan would be coming around. She hadn't had time to be with them since she started dating Rickon. But today Rickon had to be at home; his family would be receiving a visit from a liaison officer from the army, she had heard about his cousin's death. It was starting to get cold as the autumn and winter months began to set in. As a result the students now wore their winter uniforms. For the girls this consisted of a night blue long-sleeved blouse; bourbon gold long-sleeved V-necked blazer; wine-red ribbon tied in a bow; wine-red knee length coat with fur collar and sleeves; a short bourbon gold plaid skirt that reached just above the knees; night blue wool tights and black leather shoes. For the boys the uniform consisted of a wine-red button up long-sleeved shirt; night blue suit vest and suit jacket; bourbon gold tie; night blue coat; night blue trousers with leather belt and black leather shoes; they also had the option of wearing leather gloves provided by the school if they did not have their own. Shireen's thoughts then went to last night, she had been on a date with Rickon; however once again; despite feeling happy, she also felt anxious. Once again she was unable to move forwards in the relationship and felt she had let Rickon down.

Suddenly she was distracted by someone shoving her in the back, making her stumble slightly. She caught her locker for support and spun around; she froze, it was Ellyn Bolton. The tan blonde northern girl was smirking at her, standing with her were her friends. A collection of similarly beautiful, vain and arrogant girls; many of them members of the cheerleading squad who Shireen knew were trying to remove Rickon's sister Sansa from her position as captain so Ellyn could claim it.

"Well, well, little baby Shireen." Ellyn mocked; once again referring to the incident Shireen had been tripped up and her childish underwear exposed. "What is it today, teddy bears?"

Her friends all laughed while Shireen remained silent. She could see Ellyn's discomfort; she knew Ellyn hated the winter uniform as it prevented her from effectively showing skin like she usually did. She only prayed Ellyn's discomfort didn't make her more vindictive.

Ellyn then scowled at her. "So, I've seen you still hanging out with Rickon. Still deluding yourself that he actually cares about you."

Shireen shook her head.

"I…" She began, however Ellyn cut her off.

"Shut up, I don't care about your petty excuses. You should just hurry up and get away from him; Rickon is mine, got it."

With that Ellyn shoved Shireen again, knocking her books out of her hands before stalking away, laughing with her friends at Shireen's misfortune. Shireen sighed; once again wondering why Rickon had chosen her; she was small, skinny, scarred, flat-chested, shy, completely the opposite of Ellyn, with her large breasts and perfect figure, clear skin, she was the beautiful one that Rickon deserved.

It was a few hours later and Shireen was happy again; she was able to put the unfortunate incident at school out of her mind. She was hanging out in her room with Edric and Devan; they were playing some video game while she read Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid. Suddenly a low rumbling noise caught their attention; they all looked at each other and Shireen smiled. It had been the boy's stomach's growling. She stood up, placing her bookmark in the page.

"I'll go get some snacks." She said; they both nodded, their attention returning to their game.

Shireen rolled her eyes as she headed downstairs; she missed hanging out with her friends, dorky as they were. She entered the kitchen, picked up some cookies, chips and soda; ignoring the disapproving look from her mother. She was used to it by now; she quickly returned to her room, setting the food down. She shook her head; they were still in the exact same position and still playing their game.

"C'mon guys, let's do something else." She said.

"Shireen." They moaned, clearly wanting to continue their game.

She shook her head and pleaded with them. "Please."

There was silence then Edric spoke up. "Just to the end of this level."

Devan nodded and Shireen gave up and agreed. She sat down on the bed and returned to her book as the boys continued.

Finally, five minutes later they finished the level and saved the game, turning it off and turned to her.

"So, what do you wanna do, have some kinda girl talk?" Devan asked joking before making his voice comically high-pitched and girly. "OMG, how is your handsome bf doing?"

Shireen and Edric laughed along with Devan and Edric joined in the little game.

"Seriously girlfriend, how is that smoking piece of ass doing."

They all laughed again and Shireen cleared her throat.

"Well, honestly, Rickon and I are good." Her eyes gleamed as she smirked at Devan. "What about you, you asked that girl out yet?"

"The girl is running away from him now." Edric remarked as Devan blushed.

Devan scowled at Edric. "Shut up man, at least I didn't get turned down, like you."

This prompted the boys to start a food fight; Shireen shook her head.

"Guys, please, you're messing up my room."

They stopped and Edric smiled. "Sorry Shir, put on Die Hard."

"Die Hard!" Devan yelled.

Shireen groaned. "Guys, c'mon, again."

"Two against one."

She shook her head.

"It's my house, c'mon, pick a different movie."

Devan and Edric looked at each other and simultaneously replied. "Die Hard 2."

"You guys are impossible." Shireen groaned as she none the less put the movie on.

She sat down and grabbed a handful of chips from the bowl when she heard them talking quietly.

"We should take some pointers from this movie; make our talk with Rickon real scary."

"Guys please…" She pleaded; she didn't want them to start some conflict with Rickon.

Edric smiled. "Don't worry Shir, if he treats you right, he has nothing to worry about."

Shireen smiled, but was still worried.

Arya sighed as she returned home; it wasn't much longer until the date she was due to pay fine for assaulting Joffrey. She stopped at the door and looked around; for the past two months she felt like she was being followed, like someone was…stalking her. However right now she had something more important on her mind, as she stepped inside she saw everyone sitting in the living room, with them was a man from the army. She guessed this was the liaison officer she heard was going to be arriving. The others looked up at her and she hurried and sat on the couch, they all turned their attention back to the liaison officer.

He cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I don't have any further news, the body we found was too damaged to confirm identity; yet so far we have seen no sign of Jon Snow. I…I was asked to return this to you."

He handed over a small box to Ned, he opened it and Arya let out a shaky gasp. Inside the box was an item of jewellery, an upper arm chain with a wolf's head symbol on it. It belonged to Jon; the family members all knew; they had similar items of jewellery, all with a wolf's head symbol, the family crest. In Robb's case it was a seal ring; Sansa wore earring with dangling wolf's heads, Arya wore a leather chain necklace with a pendant that had the crest on it. Bran and Rickon both wore wristbands with the symbol; Bran's a metal chain while Rickon's was a leather band, tied with laces.

The liaison officer gave them a moment as they took in the item they had been given. He then cleared his throat.

"I figured it would best for you to have this; we'll keep you informed as we keep looking into this."

Ned nodded. "Thank you; we…we appreciate it."

Arya however did not hear the rest of the conversation; her gaze was fixed on Jon's family jewellery, to her it was just further confirmation of his death. She felt hollow, like a hole had been torn in her chest, then, unbidden her thoughts went to Gendry. She quickly pushed those thoughts away, now wasn't the time to be thinking about him, she didn't understand; why she couldn't get him out of her head. She had more important things to deal with just now, she needed to focus. She just prayed that something would be worked out soon; her mind was too full; the fine, the incident with Gendry, Jon's death, the problem with Sansa; she just wished there was some way to resolve these issues so she could calm down and get a good night's sleep for once.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	15. Chapter 15

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 15 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; well, all I can say is keep reading, eventually all the answers will be revealed. Wolfgirl2013: Thanks. Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, they sure are; could be. Yeah, she certainly is; I know, it's sad, glad you liked that idea :) zJordan: Thanks, well, you are entitled to your thoughts, but I'm not giving anything away, just have to wait until the answers do come out. rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; well, that will be revealed, but not until much later, she certainly is, I know, it's terrible. Yup, she certainly deserves it; yeah, certainly was :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 15**

Catelyn sighed; a couple of weeks had passed since they had received the visit from the liaison officer. Since then the atmosphere in the house was subdued; Catelyn however had several matters on her mind. Foremost of which was her desire to try and make things right with Arya. She felt bad for not believe her about Sansa being abused, she also felt guilty for not noticing the abuse sooner. She was supposed to protect her children, yet she had failed. She could've acted sooner; helped Arya protect Sansa and keep Arya from getting into trouble like she did. Before the truth had been revealed she and Ned had insisted on Arya paying the fine herself; but now they knew the truth. She took a deep breath and prepared herself; she knocked on Arya's door.

"Yeah?" Her daughter replied; her voice reflecting how sullen, dark and moody she had become since Jon's departure.

"It's me Arya." She said; there was no reply.

Uncertainly Cat opened the door. There was no protest so she stepped inside. Arya is sitting on her bed; she looked at her mother but said nothing. Catelyn sighed and sat down next to Arya.

After an awkward silence Cat spoke up. "Arya, I'm really sorry for not believing you before…about Sansa…"

Arya shook her head.

"It's not me you should be apologizing too, it's Sansa, she's the victim here."

"She won't listen to me though." Catelyn remarked sadly.

Arya bit her lip then suggested.

"Why don't we both go."

Catelyn smiled and nodded; Arya stood up from the bed.

Arya stopped at her door and looked back at her mother; she hadn't moved yet.

"Mum, are you coming?" She asked.

Her mother nodded and stood up. "Of course…Arya; I mean what I said though, I am sorry for not believing you…I, your father and I talked and, we decided to pay the fine for you."

Arya looked at her, surprised but then nodded; much to Cat's relief. Arya clearly didn't mind but saw this as a sign that her mother truly believed her and that was enough for her. So together they headed for Sansa's room; Arya didn't bother to knock, simply opening the door. Sansa was sitting in front of her vanity brushing her hair and scowled at the interruption. Her scowl vanished however when she saw her mother there too.

"Me and mum need to talk to you." Arya stated.

Sansa nodded. "Okay."

There was silence for a moment and then finally Cat sighed and spoke.

"I'm sorry for not coming forward sooner. But you need help Sansa, that boy is hurting you."

Almost immediately desperation appeared in Sansa's eyes as she vehemently shook her head.

"No he isn't." She pleaded before glaring at Arya. "She's lying mum, I swear she is."

Arya shook her head, surprisingly managing to keep calm. "I'm not."

Catelyn stepped forwards, her voice soothing. "Sweetie, I saw the bruises."

"I just fell mum; I'm a bit, clumsy." Sansa replied immediately.

Catelyn sighed, seeing immediately things were going nowhere.

She knew Sansa was lying; she had been walking straight and proper since she was three years old. If it had been Arya she might've believed her, her younger daughter was always falling on throwing herself on the floor, or onto her bed and hitting her head on the headboard. Still, there was nothing else she could do just now.

"Okay Sansa, we'll leave it." She said softly. "Let's go Arya."

Arya looked like she might argue but in the end they both left the room. Once out of earshot of Sansa she turned to her mother.

"Mum, I swear I'm telling the truth."

"I know Arya." Catelyn told her, reassuring her. "But we'll need to handle this carefully. Especially since Sansa clearly doesn't want to talk."

Arya groaned; wishing there was something they could do. Her mother sighed.

"I was hoping this would be resolved beforehand, but now I have to go to Kings Landing with this still in my head."

Aya looked at her mother, confused. "Why are you going to Kings Landing?"

Catelyn turned to her, hesitant. "I'm going to pick up the dresses and suits for the Winter Prom."

Arya fought hard not to groan; despite her protests she was going to the Winter Prom too, it was open to the whole school and her family weren't letting her miss it. Even though she didn't want to go, Sansa and Rickon were the only ones with dates, Joffrey and Shireen. However, despite Arya's protestations her mother had 'helpfully' arranged a date for her and Bran when they went too; they would be going with Tommen and Myrcella. Still, Arya decided she could make the most of her mother's trip as an idea came to her.

She followed her mother downstairs and then spoke.

"Do you mind if I come?" She asked.

Cat looked at her surprised. "Arya, last I checked, shopping wasn't something you…"

Arya shook her head. "I know, I know…It's just; I meant what I said about not wearing a dress; I want to come and at least pick what I get to wear."

Catelyn considered for a moment and then smiled.

"Very well then, let's go…I guess I can accept you not wearing a dress, but only if you pick something nice, understand."

Arya nodded and got ready and soon mother and daughter were driving down to Kings Landing. Arya just hoped that their trip here would help clear up some of the mistrust and awkwardness that still lingered around them. Indeed, the car journey was mostly silent, although they did talk a few times and things felt a little easier when they reached their destination. When they finally reached Kings Landing they got out of the car and Catelyn checked her watch and pondered for a moment.

"There's a lot for us to get through; I need to pick up Sansa's dress; the boy's suits, then there's your outfit." She looked up at Arya and they reached an unspoken agreement.

Arya nodded. "I'll get my outfit and Sansa's dress; guess we're gonna split up."

Catelyn nodded. "Yes, I'll meet you back here; you know where you are going?"

"For Sansa's dress yeah; not sure about my stuff. But I'll find something; I have my phone anyway, in case you need to call me."

Cat nodded and smiled and they then split up.

Some time later Arya had already picked up Sansa's dress and was still looking for a shop that would have what she was looking for. As she walked she passed a building that, from the noise coming inside she guessed was a mechanics garage. As she came up to it the side door opened and a familiar young man stepped out; she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Gendry?"

He spun around and she saw it was indeed him. He stared at her wide-eyed, like he'd just seen a ghost. "Arya?"

"It's uh…It's been a while." She said lamely.

He nodded and Arya decided now was as good a time as any, she had been hoping to get her outfit and Sansa's and sneak over to his apartment to talk to him, but now he was right in front of her, she took her chance.

"Listen, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Gendry nodded. "I'm on my break so, yeah, I've got time; what's up?"

"It's just um…about that night." They both shifted awkwardly. "Well, ever since then I've been thinking…about you, I just can't…"

To her surprise he smiled and laughed good-naturedly. "I'm the same, I can't get you outta my head. I feel; I don't know, there's just…something about you."

Arya nodded. "I'm the same; I just…I wouldn't know, I've never felt anything like this before but…I think, now don't freak out, I know all about the…'repercussions'. But I think I might have feelings for you."

There was silence for a moment as Gendry digested what she had just said.

Finally he sighed; his shoulders sagged and he gestured over to a nearby bench, she nodded and they sat down.

"I…get what you mean; I've felt the same. But the risk involved is what I'm worried about." He explained. "The age gap would raise a lot of eyebrows, I could get in trouble with the police…In short, this relationship would have to be a secret one, are you willing to take that risk?"

Arya nodded. "Of course I am." She then smiled. "If there's no risk, where's the fun in that."

Gendry laughed and shook his head. "I'm being serious, but I get what you mean. Oh by the way, you uh, left this at my apartment"

He held something out, Arya gasped, it was her necklace; she smiled, thanked him and took it back, she had been worried she'd lost it. Then, through unspoken consent and knowing that this meant the beginning for both of them, they kissed. They parted when they were rudely interrupted by Arya's phone; Gendry smiled and tapped his watch, indicating he had to get back to work; Arya nodded and took the note he had scribbled, his phone number. She quickly gave him hers and then answered her phone.

"Arya, are you okay, where are you?" It was her mother.

She smiled, especially when she saw the clothing store across the road and the outfit displayed in the window, it was perfect. "I'm fine mum, I was just looking for my outfit, I've found it, I'm just going to buy it then I'll meet up with you."

She hung up and did just that. The whole ride back she was smiling to herself; knowing that, despite the risks involved, she was going to enjoy her newfound relationship with Gendry.

* * *

End of chapter hope you enjoyed it, in case you're wondering about the abruptness of their actions, look at it this way, it's Arya and Gendry, they're not exactly good with the 'mushy stuff'. Anyway, read and review please.


	16. Chapter 16

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 16 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)  
****Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, including this chapter there are twenty to twenty-one chapters to go.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it all; yeah, they were. I know, it's bad for her.  
rubini25: I'm afraid you're right, she is. Yup, well all we can do is wait and see what happens.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 16**

Bran sighed as he checked himself in the mirror; he was wearing a pair of designer denim jeans, a white button-up collared shirt; a grey button-up sweater with a deep V-neck, his wristband and black leather shoes. It was time for the winter prom; despite his lack of enthusiasm his parents insisted on him going. He knew Arya was the same, although undoubtedly her reasons were different. He shook his head; the main reason why he didn't want to go to prom was that it wouldn't be fair on the girl his parents had set him up with. He knew Myrcella was nice and all; but he just couldn't stop thinking about Meera; her naturally messy brown hair and deep green eyes.

"Bran, c'mon, everyone else is ready." His mother called from downstairs.

He swallowed and prepared himself. "I'll be right down mum."

He turned away and headed downstairs; despite his unwillingness to go, he felt strangely drawn, like he felt something was going to happen this evening. When he got downstairs he saw Sansa standing at the bottom of the stairs. She wore her prom dress, a floor length sleeveless white dress with a deep V-neck with matching hi-heels. She smiled at him.

"Hey Bran, everyone else is in the living room." She made a face. "Mum and dad insist on driving me, Joff was going to pick me up but they're driving me, can you believe that."

Bran didn't say anything; he had heard about Joffrey abusing Sansa; why couldn't she just admit the truth already. He headed into the living room.

He could see his other siblings sitting on the couch. Rickon wearing grey trousers, a plain white shirt and grey suit jacket which he had rolled the sleeves back a bit on. Arya meanwhile wore denim designer jeans; a red spaghetti strap tank-top; black leather jacket, black heeled boots, a gold chain necklace she wore above her family necklace, at her side was a yellow clutch bag. Bran had to admit, they all looked good although it seemed only Rickon and Sansa were really looking forward to the prom. He had his problems and Arya once again looked sullen and angry; she hadn't even put any effort into her appearance. Her short dyed black hair was unbrushed and messy. However their mother didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't mind. Soon they were in the car, being driven to the Baratheon Mansion where they would meet their dates. They soon arrived and headed inside. Shireen and Myrcella stood talking together; they both looked nice. Shireen wore a quaint purple dress that reached just past mid-thigh and had a purple belt decorated with rhinestones. To finish the outfit she wore simple purple flats. Myrcella wore a blue strapless knee length dress with a black cloth belt with a black see through patterned design hanging over the skirt part. Myrcella and Shireen continued to talk until Rickon came up and kissed Shireen on the cheek. She smiled to him and Myrcella came over to Bran.

Soon Joffrey and Tommen enter; clad in their prom outfits. Joffrey was clad in dark blue trousers, a black belt and a red button up shirt. Tommen on the other hand wore a full dark purple suit with a black and white checkered shirt. They both walked over to their respective dates; Sansa looked thrilled while Tommen smiled sheepishly at Arya's glare. After both families had taken pictures they finally left and headed to the limo the Baratheon's had hired, they then rode to the venue. Bran couldn't help but be disgusted by the way Joffrey kept kissing Sansa, despite her practically begging him to wait. If looks could kill Joffrey would be dead a thousand times over from Arya's death glares. Finally they arrive and enter the venue; the prom has already started when they arrive and soon they split up, sticking with their partners. As they sit silently off to the side Arya glares at where Joffrey and Sansa are dancing together. Finally Tommen smiled lightly and spoke.

"I…um, I like your hair." He said lamely.

Arya looked at him and raised an eyebrow; she then shook her head. He was trying to be nice, despite her bad mood.

"Thanks…Look I'm sorry you got stuck with me; but I didn't really…"

Tommen nodded. "I know, I understand, I'm the same, I didn't wanna come either."

Arya sighed; she probably would've liked to have been here, if she could've brought Gendry, but something like that would be impossible. Still, the fact Tommen wasn't upset at her made her feel better. "Well…Let's just get some snacks and…I don't know."

Tommen smiled and agreed.

Rickon smiled as she and Shireen danced; when they finished he kissed her; she returned the kiss and they parted. Shireen blushed as they stepped off the dance floor, she was still so shy.

'_That's the problem.'_ Rickon thought wistfully. _'We probably could've taken things further if she wasn't so shy, if…'_

His thoughts trailed off as a familiar voice sounded and he saw her.

"Hey Rickon."

It was Ellyn clad in an extremely short blue dress that just barely covered her ass; it also exposed her back, with two small chains connecting the loop around her neck to the sides of the dress. To finish the outfit she wore strappy hi-heels. The amount of skin she showed was enough to make every guy in the vicinity stare, their desire obvious. Rickon couldn't help himself; he felt like his blood was boiling, and his own desire was aroused. He bit his lip; he knew he shouldn't be thinking that way, but he also knew that, if Shireen had the confidence in her body that Ellyn clearly had, the moving forwards in the relationship would've been easy. While he was dating Shireen, he cared for her, he knew that, but he couldn't deny Ellyn's body was desirable. He had to get away and clear his thoughts.

"I'm busy Ellyn, don't bother me."

With that, before she could reply he led Shireen away, however he didn't see the expression on her face. She had seen the way he looked at Ellyn and immediately her old insecurities began to take root; afraid that Rickon might soon tire of her reticence and turn to Ellyn to give him what he wanted.

Meanwhile, it did not take long for Bran to find Jojen; he too had dressed up for the prom. He wore fashionable designer jeans with a chain hanging from them and a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Too finish the outfit he wore simple brown leather shoes. He smiled and greeted them. He and Bran spoke for a moment, Bran however felt guilty, subjecting Myrcella to a full-on nerd show. But just as he was about to speak to her, to try and talk about something that might interest her, Jojen spoke up, distracting him.

"Bran, Meera's been acting really strange lately; do you have any idea why?"

He tensed slightly before turning back to Jojen. "N-no, I can't….I don't know."

Jojen merely nodded and went back to looking thoughtful after that. Bran, feeling guilty that while being with Myrcella he was still thinking about Meera. He led Myrcella out to the dance floor; as they danced Myrcella smiled.

"So, she's the one you like?" She said suddenly.

Bran froze and prayed his face wasn't as red as he felt. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Myrcella laughed. "Jojen's sister, it's obvious, don't bother denying it."

"Oh…It, it doesn't matter anyway, she's twenty-two."

Myrcella shook her head. "I think you still have a chance…Don't worry, I wasn't expecting more than friendship from you Bran; just…don't give up okay."

Bran merely nodded; privately thinking that it was already over so giving up was moot point now.

Eventually, after their dancing, they sat back down when a young man about Myrcella's age came up. He had dark skin, black hair and eyes and a Dornish accent; he was clad in fancy denim jeans; a black shirt with white and black thin stripes at certain parts of it. He smiled and introduced himself.

"Trystane Martell." He said pleasantly, before looking at Myrcella. "Uh, Myrcella…Would you like to dance?"

He looked hesitantly at Bran, as if worried about cutting in on Bran's date. Myrcella also turned to Bran but he smiled and nodded; so they left and headed out to the dance floor. Soon Jojen had to leave and Bran sat alone, watching Myrcella and his family, except Arya enjoy themselves dancing. He had to admit, although it was just as friends, he had enjoyed dancing with Myrcella and things had been fun. Meanwhile, as she drove her brother home, Meera listened as he talked about the good time he had at prom, and also about the fun Bran had, dancing with the beautiful Myrcella Baratheon. She was shocked when she realized she felt pissed about it; she suddenly realized she was actually jealous.

'_I can't go to prom with him and I'm afraid he's moving on…Do I really…Yes, okay, I've decided.'_

Her thoughts set she dropped her brother off; said she had to pick something up and began to drive back to the venue; before she drove off however she pulled her out phone.

She quickly searched through her contacts and finally found the number; she hit it and waited until finally he answered.

"Hello?"

"Bran, it's Meera…Remember…" She began but Bran cut her off.

"I remember you Meera."

She awkwardly thought about what to say. "Ummm, are you having fun at prom?"

She heard Bran sigh. "Meera, what do you want?"

She knew it was now or never.

"I was hoping you could meet me, just out back of the prom venue…I…I need to talk to you."

There was silence as Bran seemed to hesitate and finally he replied. "Okay, I'll see you there."

She hung up and drove back to the prom venue. Bran stood waiting outside the prom venue, he had seriously considered refusing Meera's offer to talk but he was desperate to hear her voice. Her car arrived and she stepped out, Bran noted she was dressed in rather fancy clothing for her usual casual style. A pair of denim skinny jeans, a dark red long-sleeved top with gauzy sleeves, simply silver heels, a gold ring, silver earrings and a black sweater. She dropped her gold clutch bag in the back seat of the car before walking up to him. Bran noticed she looked more awkward than he had ever seen her.

She managed a smile as she spoke to him.

"I hope I'm not taking you away from your fun." She said softly.

Bran shrugged. "Maybe."

He hoped acting mysterious would make him seem more than just a fifteen year old boy hopelessly pining after an older girl. However her smile vanished and he immediately regretted his statement and added.

"But if I came, it's because I thought it was worth it."

Meera nodded and they both sat on a bench outside, hidden from anyone looking outside by a hedge. "Thank you for coming, do you remember a few months ago, when you asked me…and I said…"

She couldn't get the words out, but Bran knew what she was talking about, he nodded and Meera continued.

"When I heard Jojen telling me about you going to prom with that girl Myrcella, I…I just; I kept thinking about what I said and…"

Bran shook his head. "Meera, you said I'd get hurt; what are you trying to say, really?"

He was concerned, if she was only saying this because she was jealous, it wouldn't be a good basis for a relationship. But Meera shook her head.

"It's not just that…I, I think I like you…You're smart, funny, the right level of dorky…cute."

Bran felt his face grow hot and he realized that, like he had done with her, Meera had been unable to stop thinking about him; she did have feelings for him.

Seeing Bran's expression caused relief to flood through Meera; she knew then he understood.

She smiled and asked. "I want to know, if you'd like to go on a date with me?"

"I'd love too." He replied happily.

Meera bit her lip. "You do know we're gonna have to keep it secret however, your fifteen and I'm twenty-two."

Bran thought for a moment she was ashamed of it, then he remembered that, by law, their relationship was illegal. He takes her hand and, looking her in the eye, they kiss. Finally they pulled away, both smiling.

"Do you want a ride home?" she asks

"Sure, let me just tell my sister." and he stood up and walked back inside, and then remembering he turned back to her, she was now leaning against the car, he pecked her lips two times smiling - being grateful that even if she's 7 years older, she's about the same height, because like the rest of their family she's rather shorter than a normal 22 year old woman. He headed inside and told Sansa he would be getting a lift home, claiming a friend was giving him a lift and she agreed. It soon transpired that they would be leaving soon. He quickly headed back and got in Meera's car and she drove him home.

Meera smiled that night as she undressed and pulled on her pyjamas; light purple pyjama trousers with tiny black polka dots; a white tank-top with black bows at the bottom of each strap and a cream pyjama jacket. She looked down at her phone and saw there was a text from Bran.

'_Thanks for the lift home, how about I come around tomorrow and, if we get a chance, decide what to do for our date?'_

She smiled wider and replied.

'_Sure, I'll see you then, can't wait, love you.'_

He replied in kind and she set her phone down and climbed into bed. She knew that, even with keeping things secret, her relationship with Bran would be good, definitely enjoyable.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it. prom outfits and Meera's pyjamas on the profile; check them out if you please. Read and review, thank you.


	17. Chapter 17

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 17 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, although obviously, like Arya and Gendry, they have to keep it secret.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah well, sadly it wasn't all good, Rickon and Shireen's issues, Arya's bad mood, but for Bran it worked out well :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 17**

Sansa smiled as she checked her dress one more time. It was January and already something new was happening. She had always been interested in the large business dinners her father attended. Yet every time she asked to go with him he refused, saying she was too young, even if she was now eighteen. But her mother was busy and Robb was away in the Vale with Jeyne, visiting Aunt Lysa. Not wanting to go alone her father had finally relented and allowed her to come.

"Sansa, are you ready?" He called up the stairs.

She smiled. "Coming dad."

She left her room and stopped briefly; frowning. She looked over at her sister's room, the door was ajar and inside she could hear Arya laughing quietly. Going from the other sounds she had just received a text message, which made her laugh even more. Sansa couldn't understand her sister; she couldn't understand how her sister could've been so dismissive of her mother's efforts at the prom; she hadn't even tried to make an effort with her date with Tommen; yet strangely she had been acting slightly differently lately, almost more cheerful; yet she still seemed intent on ruining Sansa's relationship with Joffrey.

Sansa shook her head as the doubts started to creep in. _'No, this is my night, I won't let anything ruin it; not even Arya.'_

She hurried downstairs and joined her father as they got in the car and he drove them off.

Soon they were at the hall and Sansa gazed around in wonder; the room was beautiful, the decorations amazing and she noted several other women there, in extravagant dresses; all beautiful with their husbands or partners, all looking perfect. As she sat at her seat at the table reserved for her family she wound a lock of hair around her finger, as she always did when she was nervous. She felt so young and intimidated in the midst of all this extravagance; she wasn't alone at the table though, even if she felt it. Her father sat next to her; also present was her uncle Edmure and great-uncle Brynden. She felt okay while they were there, as they ate but soon her family had to go and talk about various business matters with the others and had to leave, mingling with the other guests. She sat alone, intimidated, wondering what to do when she heard a female voice behind her.

"Hi, is this seat taken?"

She turns and sees a majestically beautiful girl with chestnut curly hair and brown eyes; her dress made Sansa feel ashamed of hers, it looked childish in comparisons to this girl's. Sansa knew she would never have dared wear a dress, with such a deeply V-cut neckline that reached down to just above her navel while still covering her breasts; the skirt brushed the top of the girls knees; it was clear she was confident in herself in ways Sansa felt she never could be. Still struck by the girl she shook her head and the girl sat down next to her.

Sansa carefully observed the other girl; she was young, around Sansa's age, perhaps a year or two older. The girl smiled and Sansa realized she had seen her observing her, she blushed but the girl turned directly to face her and spoke.

"So, I'm guessing you're a Tully, you have their look." Her voice was pleasant, kind.

Sansa managed to smile; feeling more at ease all of a sudden. "I'm Sansa Stark, Eddard Stark's daughter; Edmure's my uncle…My mother was in the Tully family before she married dad."

The girl laughed and nodded.

"Of course, that makes more sense." She then introduced herself. "I'm Margaery Tyrell…How old are you Sansa?"

Sansa blushed and admitted. "Eighteen."

Margaery raised an eyebrow. "So young, I'm twenty. So, what to come talk with me and my brother?"

"I…I shouldn't really leave the table…My father…"

Margaery shook her head. "We're not going far, he'll still be able to see you, we're just over there."

Sansa looked over and saw a young man she assumed was Margaery's brother; he had the same chestnut brown hair. He was talking to Renly Baratheon; Joffrey's uncle. Sansa smiled and agreed; she had a feeling she was going to get along really well Margaery Tyrell.

Later in the week, Sansa was at school; being a northerner she found the winter uniform a little stuffy, being a bit more used to the cold. But still, she would rather fell a little but too warm than frozen. She sighed and checked her watch.

'_Joffrey's late, he was supposed to meet me here and give me a ride home.'_ She thought to herself. _'He's usually late, but it's been an hour now…I should go look for him.'_

She made up her mind and began searching. It didn't take her long to find Joffrey; she heard him before she saw him, yelling at someone. She hurried and rounded the corner; there she saw him, standing over someone who had clearly been knocked on the ground, they were huddled against the lockers. As Sansa came closer she saw it was Shireen; she then heard Joffrey, he was yelling at her.

"Oh…you think your 'boyfriend' gives a shit about you!" He was saying to her. "Well, where is he now then?"

Sansa stood rooted to the spot; fear gripping her.

"Joffrey…" Shireen choked out; the poor girl looking like she was about to cry.

Joffrey merely sneered at her. "Who could care for a girl with half her face all grey and completely ugly?"

Then, shockingly, he kicked her; she flinched, clutching her side where she had been kicked; the tears fell from her eyes. Sansa looked around; nobody seemed ready to move to aid Shireen. Sansa wanted too, but she was too afraid; she knew Arya would've jumped right into protect Shireen; but Sansa knew she wasn't as brave as her sister.

It was then Joffrey turned and saw her.

"Oh Sansa…" He said calmly, like nothing happened; like he hadn't just been tormenting his cousin. "What are you doing here; you should be waiting for me at the parking lot."

She shook her head. "I was there for an hour and…"

"I don't care." He snapped; cutting her off. "Go back; I'll come when I'm ready."

She wanted to argue; to say something; but she didn't; she just left, casting an apologetic look to Shireen. She knew one thing however; he would never change.

'_The bruises might fade, but he'll always put them there again.'_ She thought and finally; everything all clicked into place and never had she felt so bad. _'Arya was right all along…There's only one solution; tonight, I have to do it tonight.'_

With that she made up her mind. That night she stood in front of the mirror, checking to make sure her bruises were covered. She was clad in a spaghetti strap white knee length dress, the skirt flared out, making it easy to move; a wine red ribbon was tied around just below the bust, the hem and designs on the dress were also wine-red. She also wore her family earrings and a pair of silver heels. She had made her decision; she was going to break up with Joffrey; she couldn't believe that all this time she had been blind to how much of a jerk he was. She left the house just as Joffrey drove up; she quickly got in his car and he drove off to their destination. As usual, appearance wise, he looked perfect; clad in black trousers with a black leather belt and black shoes along with red button up shirt, the button up section being black. Yet she now knew, beneath that perfect exterior was a cruel, evil person, one who had deceived and hurt her, but no more, she was going to end it tonight, so long as her courage held.

They were eating in a small restaurant, she was trying to find the perfect moment to say something to him, but she hadn't the guts to do it there, knowing Joff he would throw a fit, so she waited for them to leave the restaurant. They were in the parking lot, when she said

"We need to talk"

He scowled at her and snapped. "No we don't"

"Yes, we do." She insisted

"If i say no, it's no" Joffrey shot back; trying to 'assert his authority'.

"I want to break up." she tells him firmly.

He looked at her for a few seconds then growls. She's thrown to the floor, and kicked several times before he punches her in the mouth. He grabs her roughly and bellows at her.

"Shut up, bitch!" He then started ordering her around again. "Stand up; we are going home."

"No, I don't wanna be with you."

He responded by spitting on her face

"Fine stay here" He said finally, clearly deciding to end the relationship himself. "See if I give a fuck."

He then left; leaving her in a dark alley, luckily there was nobody dangerous around, but people don't usually pass by, she was alone and hurt. She trembled and gingerly explored her sensations; her side, stomach and legs all ached; she wiped Joffrey's spit off her face, winced at the pain in her mouth, luckily her teeth hadn't been damaged, just a swollen lip. It was then she realized the assault had broken her earrings too. She felt sad at that, they had been a family symbol, like Arya's necklace, or Robb's ring, or the stuff worn by the others.

She shuddered, she couldn't stay here, but she felt too sore to move on her own and Joffrey had taken the car. There's only one option; so she dials the number.

"Yes?" Sansa tenses at the grumpy sound of her sister's voice. "What is it, I was trying to sleep."

Sansa sighed. "Arya, it's me…I…I need your help."

She heard the intake of breath from Arya and then. "Sansa, what's wrong?"

Sansa told her what happened and asked Arya if she could get help.

"Don't worry, I'll be right there." Arya said; there was an edge to her voice that Sansa felt sounded close to anger.

About half hour after, there's someone helping her up.

"I hate that prick. I'm gonna kill him" Arya snarled.

Sansa shook her head. "Arya, please no"

"Please tell me you're not going back to him" her sister asked, looking ready to drop Sansa if she said yes.

"Of course not, he did this because i broke with him" She explained.

Arya nodded and led Sansa over to the waiting taxi.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Hospital?"

"No, just home." She said; her voice barely above a whisper.

If it was anyone else would insist in going to the hospital, but Arya just nodded and they got in the taxi. She told the driver to take them home.

They rode in silence and once home Arya paid the taxi driver and led Sansa inside and up to her room.

"Thank you, Arya" Sansa said; she meant it too.

Arya nodded; relieved that Sansa now understood the truth. "Always, Sansa. I just want you to hear me, to understand me."

Sansa bowed her head; she realized now that all this time Arya had been trying to help her. All the time Sansa had been trying to 'help' Arya, it just wasn't working, because Arya was just so different. She took her youngest sister's hand, and made a deal to herself to talk with her more, knowing she wasn't the only one in pain right now. Her pain was physical, Arya's wasn't, but that didn't make it hurt any less. She knew it would take some effort, especially due to their differences, but Sansa swore she would try and help her sister in future.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please. There are pictures for the date outfits on the profile page, feel free to check them out.


	18. Chapter 18

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 18 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it all; yeah, she is. He most certainly is; well at least she got help.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, huh?  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, it is :)  
zJordan: Thanks, yup, there sure it.  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah; she has and is finally free. Well, we can only wait and see :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 18**

Sansa sighed as she stood in front of the mirror; she was in her underwear, she could see the bruises. Her stomach and legs were covered in them, her lip was still swollen; without her make up some more bruises, in various stages of fading or colouration, were visible. She sighed and reached for her make-up, her hand hovered above the make-up bag.

'_No.'_ She decided finally, pulling her hand back. _'I'm done hiding; let them see what he did to me.'_

Satisfied with this she pulled on her uniform and headed downstairs. The moment she entered the room and the rest of the family saw her they gasped. Arya bit her lip; she was the only one to have seen all of the bruises before. Sansa sat down at the breakfast table; aware of her family's eyes on her. She cleared her throat.

"I…Joffrey and I broke up last night." She said finally.

Her father glared. "He can't get away with this."

Sansa shook her head. "Dad, no…"

"Sansa…"

She took a breath to calm down.

"Dad, you know he'll just get away with it, we've broken up, he doesn't control me anymore, he can't just hurt me anytime he wants anymore…" She paused. "I just want to put it behind me."

Her father agreed, somewhat reluctantly. Breakfast was a tense atmosphere; Sansa wondered just how long before the tension became too much; there were so many problems, her parents' marriage was still troubled, despite their pretence otherwise; plus all the other issues, she just prayed everything would end well.

All these thoughts were still going through her mind as she entered school. She knew that, although they followed her wishes to not take action, her parents would still want to talk to her when they got home. She didn't mind, if anything she felt she needed to talk to them, to tell them everything. However when she walked to her first class she saw people staring at her, they were also whispering.

She groaned. _'Great, Joffrey must've told lies about what happened, making me look like some ungrateful bitch. Fine, I really couldn't care anymore.'_

She decided to just ignore it; let them talk until they got bored of it. Still she was unsettled with how easy it was for them to trash talk her.

'_This is how they've been treating Arya all this time?'_ She thought to herself, consumed with shame. _'And I did nothing to stop them; oh Gods, Arya I'm so sorry, how did you stand it?'_

She was amazed; to withstand this practically every day, her sister was much stronger than she thought. Her day remained the same until lunch; she kept her head down and ignored the comments. At lunch she sat alone; eating her lunch, she sighed; she wished she had taken time to find out where her siblings went for lunch, so she could join them, it would be better than sitting alone.

As she sat she looked up and tensed; the cheerleading squad was approaching her; led by Ellyn Bolton. Sansa was certain the girls weren't here to ask how she was doing after the break-up. She now understood why Myrcella quit; she was disgusted and couldn't believe she'd once considered these girls her friends, how could she have been so stupid, so horrid.

Ellyn smiled; but something about it seemed false. "Sansa love, you know how important you are to us."

Sansa fought to keep her face neutral as she nodded slowly; she knew this girl was trying to steal her youngest brother from his girlfriend.

"But I'm sorry; the rumours going around about you, I don't think you can make part of the team anymore..." She smiled darkly. "But don't worry, they've decided to elect me captain in your place, I'll take good care of the team."

Sansa was shocked; she never thought they would say it like that. She looked around; none of the other girls said anything; until another voice spoke up.

"How dare you, what gives you the right to make that decision?"

Sansa looked up; it was Jeyne Poole, her oldest friend.

Ellyn scowled at her, clearly not anticipating any resistance. "Everyone agreed, Jeyne."

"I didn't and neither did Sansa." Jeyne shot back.

"You really think that'll stop us." Ellyn remarked with her friends laughing loyally behind her.

Jeyne shook her head. "Forget this, I quit."

"Fine." Ellyn replied, barely fazed. "One dead weight down."

With that they left, Jeyne staying sitting next to Sansa.

They both sat in silence; Sansa looked at Jeyne surprised; she had never seen her friend get so angry before.

"Jeyne." She said softly. "You didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did, you're my best friend; I'm not going to abandon you." Jeyne insisted.

Sansa smiled and hugged Jeyne. "Thank you."

Sansa was truly grateful to Jeyne; she made getting through the rest of the day easier. Finally, as school ended, she said goodbye to Jeyne and joined the rest of her family. She noticed the way Arya was looking at her and turned to her.

"What is it?" She asked.

Arya sighed. "Sorry, it's just…for once, I wish all those…You know, I wish they would give me the usual trouble. Better me than you."

Sansa shook her head. "No Arya; it's not right; they shouldn't get away with talking about you like that, like any of us about that."

Arya merely nodded but her phone rang and she checked it, apparently a text message, yet surprisingly she moved away from the rest of them, smiling as she answered.

'_If I didn't know better, I'd say Arya had a secret boyfriend.'_ Sansa thought to herself. _'Bran's been acting the same lately…Could he be in a secret relationship too? But why, why would they keep it secret.'_

She looked and noticed that Bran was secretly texting someone too; Rickon looked just as perplexed as she did.

Later in the week Sansa sighed sadly; school had been a trial for her, in truth it had been Jeyne who had prevented her from pretending to be sick every day. However today Jeyne was busy and she couldn't hang out with her; however she wasn't alone. She had gone down to Highgarden today and was hanging out with Margaery; she had gotten to know most of the family well since she met Margaery and Loras at the business dinner party. She was now staying overnight with Margaery; they were currently lying on her bed watching a movie, although they weren't giving it their full attention; preferring to talk to each other instead. She listened to Margaery's amazing college stories and about the great parties and the handsome boys she met at them.

"You know, I could take you to the next one."

Sansa was surprised; she needed more time after Joffrey before she started dating again, but the idea of going to a college party intrigued her.

"Really?" She asked.

Margaery nodded. "Sure, what are friends for?"

Sansa smiled at that; now her 'losses' seemed so insignificant; she now had real friends and her family. After watching the movie they slept and for the first time in a long time, Sansa slept soundly.

The following morning Sansa woke up first; Margaery was still asleep. Sansa once again found herself envious of Margaery's confidence in her body. Sansa still wore pyjamas and such; but Margaery was confident enough to sleep in just her bra and thong. She pulled on her pink mid-thigh dressing gown and slipped downstairs. The house was quiet; she guessed everybody else was still asleep. Sansa quickly got herself a glass of water; took a careful drink and put the glass down on the counter. Just then she heard what sounded like someone stopping quickly, behind her. She turned quickly; standing in the doorway was a young man, like Margaery he had brown hair and eyes; he also had a neat short beard too. He was leaning on a cane and was clad in black pyjama trousers and matching button-up pyjama shirt; over which he wore a simple black dressing gown.

"I…I…" He stammered, clearly taken by surprise. He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry; I didn't realize anyone else was up…You must be Margaery's friend, Sansa Stark?"

She nodded; still nervous; she had met Margaery's parents and her temperamental Grandmother, along with her twenty-one year old brother Garlan and his fiancée Leonette Fossoway.

"Y-yes, that's me…" She managed to get out.

The man nodded and held out his hand. "I'm Willas Tyrell; her oldest brother."

Sansa smiled and shook his hand; he seemed rather quiet and gentle, different from his siblings. She was certain, like the rest of the Tyrell's, she would soon befriend Willas.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please. Note: link to Willas' pyjamas and dressing gown are on the profile page, feel free to check them out :)


	19. Chapter 19

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 19 of my Game of Thrones story.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, she is, yup, of course. Well of course, we know who is texting her after all :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Right; well, glad you enjoyed it.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, well, things should start looking up for her :)  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you liked it; yeah, she has and you've got that right :) More drama ahead however.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 19**

Sansa smiled to herself; it was now March and after the dramatic incidents with Joffrey things were calming down. However there was more nervousness building in her; for a different reason. As she had anticipated she had indeed befriended Willas, just as she had the other Tyrells. However recently her feelings towards Willas had begun to develop into more than friendship. She was scared at the thought of starting a new relationship, especially so soon after her nightmare with Joffrey, but Willas was different; smart, kind, calm, responsible. When she finally found the courage to talk to him about her feelings she was amazed to learn he felt the same and they had kissed, it had felt amazing, much better than Joffrey's kisses had ever been. Her nervousness however came due to what was about to happen. Her family were wary about her dating, so they had invited Willas over to dinner; Sansa only hoped it would go well. She had shared her fears with Willas and he had done his best to reassure her that everything would be okay. It had worked initially; until she realized it wasn't just her parents that would be watching Willas closely; Robb and Jeyne had come to visit and would be present too. In the end she knew all she could do was pray everything turned out well; she heard the door knock and rushed to answer it.

By pure luck she reached the door first and answered it; Willas stood there smiling.

"Hi." He greeted her casually and she smiled back, kissing him.

When they parted her presented her with a bouquet of flowers. "For you."

"Thank you, you didn't need to…" She began but he smiled wider.

"I wanted to." He replied and then looked past her, at the same time Sansa heard the footsteps.

She turned her head and saw her mother approaching. She knew this was it, the first test.

Her mother stopped just behind her and put on her usual greeting smile. "Hello, you must be Willas Tyrell."

He nodded politely and produced another bouquet, presenting them to her.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Stark."

Catelyn smiled pleasantly, appreciating the kind gesture. She gratefully accepted the flowers and replied. "Thank you, there was no need, but it was very kind of you."

They stepped back and Willas stepped in, Sansa closed the door as Willas removed his coat and took care to hang it up on the coat rack.

"I must go, the kitchen needs me." Her mother stated; still smiling.

Sansa turned to her mother. "Do you need any help mum?"

Catelyn shook her head. "It's okay Sansa; I'll manage, go and introduce Willas to your father and Robb."

Sansa gulped and nodded; her mother headed through to the kitchen. Willas turned and raised an eyebrow.

"Robb?"

Sansa explained. "My older brother; I didn't he was going to be here, he's brought his girlfriend Jeyne Westerling around."

Willas nodded. "Well, let's go see them."

She was amazed he could still be so calm, but nodded and took his hand as they headed through to the living room.

They enter the living room; her father and Robb are there, along with Jeyne; Bran and Arya are also present, watching TV. Her father sees them and stands up; Robb turns and also sees them. There is silence for a moment, until Jeyne smiles.

"So, you're Willas, Sansa's told us all about you." She says, friendly and that eases the tension.

Her father finally smiled.

"Willas right." When Willas nods he continues, holding out his hand. "Eddard Stark, nice to meet you."

Willas shakes his hand and then Robb introduces himself and Jeyne. As they were too busy focused on the TV, although Sansa saw them discreetly sending texts from their phones, her father introduced Bran and Arya too. As they all sat down Sansa notices someone was missing.

"Where's Rickon?" She asked.

Her father smiled. "It's his football game today; he won't be home for at least another hour."

Sansa then remembered and nodded; soon her father and Robb began talking to Willas. She was relieved that, by dinner time, it seemed the family had taken a liking to Willas. He had simply been his usual personable self and, despite their doubts, he had won them over, gaining their trust. She smiled as after dinner Bran and Arya returned to watching TV while Robb and Jeyne helped her mother in the kitchen. Her father headed through to the study to take a work related phone call. Relieved and happy Sansa leaned closer to Willas and they kissed.

Rickon sighed as he stepped out of the locker room. The first half of his game had ended; he had some time before he had to go back on the pitch. Therefore he had changed, putting on a blue and white striped shirt with black waistcoat pattern on over his football gear. It was part of the clothes he had been wearing before the game. It was then he heard another voice.

"Rickon."

He turned, it was Ellyn, he was prepared to warn her off but the words stuck in his throat. She was dressed in a _really_ short white mini skirt and a pink tank-top with a low neckline that showed the tops of her breasts; along with them she wore simple sandals. Once again the amount of skin shown caught Rickon off-guard and stoked his desires.

"I thought you might appreciate some 'fun' time with a real woman, before the next half starts." She said seductively. "After all, I know your blood's up, I can help with that."

Rickon shook his head. "Ellyn, I have a girlfriend…"

"Who isn't here, she isn't going to show up, she won't dare disobey her daddy now will she." Ellyn remarked; cutting him off. "Rickon, you have needs; she's not addressing them, that's a bit selfish, isn't it…Besides, she doesn't need to know."

Rickon wanted to say something but Ellyn's words broke into the immature part of his brain which felt she was right. If Shireen didn't know, surely there was nothing to worry about. His subconscious choose that moment to speak up, it was funny, but Rickon always felt it spoke in his mother's voice, telling him this was wrong, but no matter how hard it tried; Ellyn's sexy outfit and seductively manner caused his passions to overrule his sense and he agreed. She took his hand and they soon headed for the currently deserted bleachers.

Shireen sighed as she sat on her bed; still clad in her pyjamas; a pair of floral shorts and matching thin strapped tank-top. She sighed, today was the day of Rickon's big game; he had invited her to come and she had wanted to. However when she asked her father he had said no, he had forbidden her to leave the house that day. As usual her mother had also forbidden her, but wasn't even bothering to keep an eye on her; ignoring her as usual. Her father had left for a business trip.

'_So…What's to stop me from going; mum won't even notice I'm gone.'_ She thought to herself; surprised at her own rebellious thoughts. _'I'm actually thinking of defying dad…I must be crazy, or Rickon's rubbing off on me.'_

Shaking her head she made up her mind and immediately stripped off her pyjamas and quickly got dressed. She made up her mind, she wanted to try and make herself more appealing to Rickon, to maybe take the next step in their relationship, so, to her own surprise, her clothes were surprisingly revealing for her. A mid-thigh length denim mini skirt and a red spaghetti strap tank-top. She bit her lip, she felt too exposed; so she pulled on a pair of stockings with black diamond patterns and a white top with elbow length sleeves. She pulled on her shoes and slipped out of her room and managed to sneak out of the house. She couldn't believe she was really doing this, it felt exhilarating; she decided she would take of the top when she got there and immediately made her way to the pitches.

Before Rickon fully processes what's going on, Ellyn has him pushed up against the bleachers and claims his mouth with hers. He responded immediately and soon their tongues were wrestling together; without any hesitation Ellyn shoved her hand down his shorts and boxers and grasped his rock hard manhood. She smiled when she felt it.

'_Wow, it's so big…Oh you might think this is just sex Rickon, but once I'm done, Shireen won't have a chance.'_ She thought to herself. _'After this you'll want me without any doubt.'_

At that exact moment she felt a thrill of excitement as Rickon's hands squeezed her breasts. She smiled and pulled back from the kiss, to breathe out.

"Skin to skin is better, clothes off."

He doesn't hesitate and soon her tank-top is off, along with his shirt and football T-shirt; she doesn't wait and removes his shorts before sliding out of her mini-skirt. She now stands in a pink lace bra and matching skimpy thong; Rickon is clad in just his black, white and grey camouflage boxers. She can already see the pitched tent from by his erect cock and grinned, they began kissing again; she couldn't wait, some more kissing and Rickon would soon want to advance to the next stage; if he was reluctant, well she had a plan for that. Suddenly they both heard a voice.

"Rickon, Rickon, where are you?" It was Shireen.

Rickon panicked, Shireen wasn't supposed to be here. Suddenly common sense and his sub-conscious kicked in and he realized his terrible mistake. Ellyn however refused to let him go and kissed him more passionately; she wanted Shireen to catch them, to learn the truth of just how worthless she was in comparison to Ellyn.

Sure enough, at that moment Shireen walked up and spotted them; she was frozen on the spot, her eyes torturing her with what she saw. Rickon turned his head towards her.

"Shireen…" He began before Ellyn claimed his mouth again.

She couldn't believe it; she knew it was real, but she didn't want to believe it. Everything Joffrey had done to her was nothing compared to this. She found she was self-consciously playing with the hem of her skirt. And suddenly her sorrow changed to anger.

'_He's such an asshole; I can't believe I thought I had to change to make him happy.' _Her thoughts raced, yet sorrow returned, finding equal strength to anger. _'I hate him, I hate him…I want to hate him…But I love him so much.'_

The tears formed and she couldn't take it anymore. She turned and ran; she thought she heard his voice calling her name. But in all honestly she didn't care anymore; she just wanted to be home. She ran and ran as the tears fell uncontrollably. Rickon couldn't believe it; the horrific feelings engulfing him left him feeling terrible; it wasn't guilt, it was much worse than that. Guilt seemed an insufficient word to describe this terrible feeling.

"Shireen…Shireen!" He cried out; trying desperately to say something, to explain.

But she was gone and Ellyn kept trying to kiss him.

"Let her go, she'll get over it." Ellyn remarked.

Rickon tried to break free; he had to go after Shireen.

Ellyn frowned; she wasn't having that, she knew she had to use her back-up plan now. She immediately dropped to her knees and was faced with the still pitched tent in his boxers.

'_Can't wait to get this in my mouth.'_ She thought excitedly.

She was looking forward to convincing Rickon of how better she was with the blowjob. She went to grasp the waistband to pull his boxers down when Rickon suddenly shoved her back.

"Leave me alone Ellyn; I can't believe you, you stupid bitch!" He yelled pulling on his clothes rapidly and rushing away.

Ellyn just smirked and got dressed at her own pace, she felt it didn't matter, there was still the second half; all she had to do was corner him again and really fuck him. However contrary to her thoughts, he never showed up. Rickon had in fact abandoned the game, giving an excuse to the coach and got fully dressed. He went looking for Shireen; but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find her. He lingered outside her home, but found he couldn't bring himself to knock on the door. Dejected he returned home, his mind full and guilt crushing him. He knew he would have to do a lot to try and convince Shireen to even listen to him, let alone forgive him. But he would do it; he wanted to put things right, it wasn't easy, but he was desperate to do so. Shireen deserved better than this; at the very least she deserved a serious apology. But without any idea how to go about it he was forced to return home, consumed with guilt and trying to hide things from his family.

That night he lay on his bed and tried futilely to get to sleep.

'_I fucked up so bad…What can I do to make it right…Gods Shireen, I'm so sorry…What am I going to do?'_

Despite his desperation, he had no answer. Tomorrow was Monday, back to school; he just hoped at school he would be able to find Shireen and fixed things, however unlikely it seemed.

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End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it. Poor Shireen, well, let's hope Rickon can make things up to her; as usual outfits on profile page (except Shireen's tank-top, forgot the link, sorry). Anyway, read and review please :)


	20. Chapter 20

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 20 of my Game of Thrones story.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: True, she does, but she's not the only one to blame, Rickon was at fault too.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you like it.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, I know, well; at least he has the decency to regret it, bitterly. Glad you liked them :)  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, she does. Yes well; that is true, although really a scolding is unnecessary as Rickon is essentially subjected himself now to severe mental flagellation. Trust me, the person most angry at Rickon's actions right now is himself.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 20**

Rickon Stark felt guilty, no; guilt was a pathetically weak word for what he felt. He felt as if he was being crushed; He had cheated on his girlfriend, simply because he just couldn't control his desires and allowed her worst enemy to seduce him. They hadn't gone all the way but that didn't lessen the guilt or the pain. He had done something terrible he knew, the only thing on his mind was making things right. Even if Shireen never took him back; he had to tell her how sorry he was, he knew what he had done was wrong, Shireen deserved better than that. However, the whole weekend he couldn't find the courage to call her, or go and see her. He was afraid, especially since he knew his family were starting to notice Shireen wasn't coming around anymore. He had hoped on Monday to talk to her; but Shireen never showed up. He instead spent the day avoiding Ellyn Bolton and, when she finally cornered him, yelling at her, even that didn't make her see sense. It was now Tuesday, after school and Shireen hadn't shown up again. He had asked her friends only to receive growled threats from Edric and Devan. Myrcella however was calmer and explained that Shireen had called her, claiming to be sick. Rickon however wasn't convinced; he finally made up his mind, it was time for him to go and talk to Shireen, he decided to start at her home.

He prepared himself; got ready and headed downstairs. There he ran into his mother and froze.

"Rickon." She said; her tone was serious and Rickon knew that was never a good sign. "Where are you going? Where is Shireen, she always used to come around here after school?"

Rickon swallowed nervously, he saw no other way; he might as well tell the truth and face the consequences. "I'm going to see her now mum, we…we had a…a fight."

Catelyn raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Rickon twisted his hands and shifted from foot to foot.

"I…I may have…No, not may…I cheated on her."

Catelyn stared in shock; she couldn't believe her youngest had done that, she had tried hard to raise her children right and to show respect to others. That cheating was wrong; she knew that pain all too well. Brandon had cheated on her at least twice; she had no suspicions at least that Ned had done that too her, it was one of the few things they didn't argue about.

She shook her head. "First thing, you're punished…"

"Mum please, this is between me and Shireen."

"I don't care." She cut him off. "I won't have a son of mine acting like that; secondly, you are going to apologize to her, on your knees."

Rickon nodded.

"I know mum." He stated.

However Catelyn distinctly heard him mutter. "That's not going to be anywhere near enough to make up for what I did."

Hearing that Cat let him go; she realized Rickon already knew what he did was wrong and wanted to make amends in any way he could. She would still need to talk Ned about Rickon's behaviour however.

It was Tuesday and Shireen was lying on bed. She had come home after that disaster; slipped back to her room and stripped off the revealing clothes. Since then she had lain in bed, in just her light green underwear. She had convinced her mother she was too sick for school yesterday and didn't feel any better today. Her father was sill away on the business trip and her mother out for a meeting of her social club. She sighed and got out of bed, pulling on her dressing gown and sat on the edge of the bed.

'_I can't believe Rickon did that to me.'_ She thought in anguish. _'How could he betray me like that; he broke me, he broke my heart.'_

The tears fell; it was like everything she had faced was a terrible nightmare. She wondered if she was part of some stupid testosterone fuelled bet between the football team to see who could fuck the ugliest girl.

She buried her face in her hands as the tears came again. _'I'm so stupid, I thought, all this time I thought I'd finally found someone…someone who could love me for who I was; who felt I was…pretty.'_

She groaned as the phone rang again, it would only be Devan, Edric or Myrcella. Rickon hadn't called her since the incident; she couldn't take it anymore. She picked up her phone and stuffed it in the drawer of her bedside table and froze, as her eyes fell on the razor blades.

A tremor ran through her body; she hadn't even touched the razor blades since Myrcella and the boys befriended her, hadn't even thought about them since Rickon came into her life. There was a reason she wore long sleeves for a long time; but all those old scars and faded until almost completely unnoticeable.

'_But now…what do I have now?'_ She thought sadly. _'I'll go back to school and everyone will laugh at me…Maybe Devan, Edric, even Myrcella were in on it. Why would a popular beautiful girl like Myrcella want to hang out with me?'_

Her hands shook as she picked up the razor blades. Her breath came out harsh and ragged as she gripped one of the blades and began making the cuts, piercing the skin on her inner arm, watching the blood as it welled from the wounds. She felt numb, the pain of Rickon's betrayal slipping away. She had made a few more small cuts then stopped; staring at the blood.

'_Who would miss me, really?' _She wondered dejectedly. _'Not Rickon, not my friends…Not my parents, they barely remember I even exist half the time.'_

The more she thought about it, the more she felt no one would miss her. Maybe Patchface, the patient she befriended at the hospital she volunteered at as a cleaner.

She took a deep breath. _'He would learn to live without though.'_

So with that she moved the blade to her wrist and made the cut. She dropped the blade and collapsed, as she lay on the floor she watched the blood and felt the tears fall. The last thing she heard before blacking out was the sound of a knock on her bedroom door and the door opening.

Rickon stood outside Shireen's house looking at his phone. He had tried to call Shireen but got no answer; he pocketed his phone and knocked on the door, no answer; he called out but there was still no answer. He frowned, he knew she was home, her curtains were open, she always made sure they were open when she was home. He sighed, he knew it wasn't right, but he was desperate; he quickly looked around and found, to his relief that the downstairs bathroom window had been left open. He quickly looked around, making sure nobody could see him; he was technically breaking and entering after all, before climbing in through the window. He quickly made his way to her room; he noted it was unlocked. However he had been taught it was impolite to enter a lady's room without knocking. He knocked and opened the door; he then froze. Shireen was lying on the floor with several cuts on her left arm and her left wrist was bleeding badly. A blood stained razor blade lay next to her; Rickon immediately realized the wounds were self-inflicted. He immediately ran to and, picking up the closest cloth he could, a shirt which he absently noted was one of his she had borrowed one day, and wrapped it tightly around her wrist. He held it there, applying as much pressure as possible, trying to stop the bleeding. He pulled out his phone and dialled the number, desperately.

"999, what is your emergency?" The female voice at the other end stated.

"My girlf…My friend is bleeding, it's really bad…" He paused and checked her pulse. "Her pulse is weak."

It was only as he said it he felt the full terrible gravity of the situation.

The woman on the other end remained calm, for which Rickon envied her; he was panicking, his heart hammering like crazy he felt it was going to break free from his chest.

"Okay, what is the address?" She asked.

He gave the address and exactly where in the house they were then explained what he had already done.

There was a slight pause before the woman spoke again. "Very good sir, just keep doing that until the ambulance arrives…Do you have any idea what happened?"

Rickon cringed but then cleared his throat. "I think…she tried to kill herself."

There was a brief silence on the other end then the woman spoke again.

"Okay sir, the ambulance will there as quickly as possible."

"Okay, thank you."

With that he hung up. He put his phone away and continued to apply pressure to the wound as he cradled her close to him, crying.

'_This is all my fault, I did this to her…'_ He thought sadly. _'I broke her heart.'_

Then, through the sorrow and bitter guilt he heard the sirens. It did not take long for the ambulance to stop and doctors to knock on the door. He hated leaving Shireen but he hurried down and unlocked the door, allowing them to come in and take her to hospital; he rode with her, praying fervently for her to make it.

Some time later Rickon was pacing up and down the waiting room. He was waiting for new about Shireen's condition; he had called her father, enduring Stannis' anger to explain what happened. The news had apparently caused Stannis to forget his anger at Rickon; but he was unable to get away, although he did say he would call her mother and inform her of what happened. However Selyse was yet to show up; he had tried to call her friends but they were all unable to take the calls. He guessed that, unlike Shireen who had already finished all of hers, they were in the middle of one of their exam prelims. It was then a doctor came out, Rickon turned to him.

"Any…any news on Shireen?"

The doctor hesitated. "I should be talking to her family first…"

Rickon frowned. "I don't think they're coming, she…she shouldn't be left alone."

"Very well." The doctor replied, nodding. "She'll live, we manage to save her, you can go see her now, but she's still unconscious."

Rickon breathed a sigh of relief and headed through to Shireen's ward. He sat down next to her, she looked even paler than usual, so pale her greyscale scars stood out even more. Around her left wrist were bandages and the cuts higher up her inner arm had been treated. He hesitantly took her hand, feeling like he was taking advantage of her, he didn't deserve to look at her, let alone touch her. Just then his phone rang, it was Myrcella; he answered quickly and told her what happened. He could hear the horror in her voice as she promised she and the boys would be around as quickly as they could. He hung up and continued to pray for Shireen's recovery.

Catelyn was worried; it had been over five hours since Rickon had left to apologize to Shireen. He wasn't home yet and he hadn't called; she began to feel scared that something had happened. She hoped fervently that they had indeed made up and had just lost track of time. Her hopes vanished however when Sansa came down the stairs, just barely holding back tears.

"Mum!" She cried out; Cat saw she was trembling.

"What is it sweetie?" She asked; fearful.

Sansa choked out the words. "Myrcella just called me, Shireen's in hospital, she…she tried to take her own life."

Catelyn gasped; how badly broken by this incident had Shireen been to do that? When Brandon cheated on her, she had never considered it; although she believed if Ned did, and she didn't have the kids, she probably would.

"Oh gods, the poor girl…where, where's your brother?"

She didn't need to specify which brother, Sansa knew. "Rickon's with Shireen just now; he found her and…and…"

Catelyn nodded. "I understand Sansa; I'll try and call him."

She picked up her phone and called Rickon's number.

"Yes." It took her a moment to realize it was Rickon who answered.

His voice sounded so broken, so small and weak; so racked with guilt Catelyn realized that Rickon blamed himself completely for Shireen's suicide attempt.

She cleared her throat and then replied.

"It's me Rickon; I…I heard what happened."

She was surprised he didn't ask how she knew, instead he simply explained. "I'm staying with her mum, she needs me…She…She needs to know how sorry I am."

She smiled and spoke gently. "It's okay son, I understand; stay with her. Tell her we're all thinking about her and hope she gets better soon."

"Thanks, I will." He replied hoarsely.

They both hung up and Catelyn hoped they would both get better and be able to fix this. She heard it in his voice, just how deep Rickon's regret ran, just how deep his love for Shireen really was. It had taken a terrible and jarring wake-up call, one that shouldn't have needed to happen, she just hoped everything turned out okay.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	21. Chapter 21

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 21 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, it's pretty bad, well, here's your answer.  
Veridissima: Yeah; it's pretty distressing; yeah, she's in a bad way just now, as for Rickon, yeah, he's realized his mistakes and is now out to fix them.  
zJordan: Thanks, I know.  
rubini25: Yeah; I know; well he acknowledges what he did was wrong and knows he needs to accept responsibility for his actions; Catelyn of course as I described, knows how bad it feels. Yeah, Shireen really just couldn't take it anymore. Hmmm, I see, well, we all have our views.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 21**

Shireen could feel someone holding her hand; it was strange, the way she was feeling.

'_Is this what death feels like?'_ She thought to herself. _'It's not so different, no wait…I'm, I'm not dead.'_

She opened her eyes and found herself somewhere she didn't recognize, in a room with the whitest walls she had ever seen. She then heard his voice.

"Shireen, you're awake."

She turned her head, shocked, it was Rickon. He was the one sitting next to her bed, holding her hand. The look on his face was a mixture of relief, regret and, she saw, utter self-loathing. A confused jumble of feelings waged war in her head. Her first was anger, anger that he'd dare show his face, then sadness, when she realized what she had done and when she saw the way he seemed to be practically tearing himself apart, full of bitter regret. Finally however, her most prominent feeling was confusion; her wish to know just what happened overshadowed everything else.

"What happened?" She asked; her voice felt soft and airy, almost like she had forgotten how to use it.

Rickon swallowed and bowed his head, letting go of her hand. "I found you, after…"

He couldn't continue but she realized; the last thing she heard before blacking out, the door opening, had been him coming into the room. She looked away; he definitely wouldn't want anything to do with her now.

There was an awkward silence, Shireen wanted to say something. But her anger had lessened considerably, knowing now Rickon had been the one to save her life. Before she could break the silence however, he did.

"Shireen, I listen, I have something to say and I really need you to hear me." He told her; she looked back at him. "I'm so sorry about what happened with Ellyn…I'm never doing anything like that again, ever, I swear it."

She wanted to believe him, she really did. Her doubt must've shown on her face however as he sighed.

"I understand if you don't trust me, but I promise right now; I will never do it again."

Shireen bit her lip; she knew the trigger for this incident had been Rickon's extremely repressed desires; the snail's pace of their relationship.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry I didn't have se…"

Rickon however cut her off. "You have nothing to apologize for; especially not that. It was wrong of me if I ever made you feel like you had to."

Shireen looked away again, her voice small. "But you slept with her."

Rickon reached out and gently touched her face, guiding her gaze back to him. "No I didn't, I stopped; just after you left I pushed her off and came looking for you…I just couldn't find you."

She knew her next question was awkward but Rickon seemed to anticipate it.

"If you're wondering if I would've stopped if you hadn't come along…Honestly, I don't know. But I do know a few things now…Important things."

Shireen waited tensely, wondering what he meant.

He sighed before continuing.

"Like I said, I'm truly sorry, I fucked up big time, I was, I am an ass. But I know one thing…" He took a deep breath and continued. "I don't want to lose you Shireen; I don't think I've ever been happier, outside my family, than when I'm with you."

She realized he meant it; she was looking straight into his eyes and could see no trace, not even a hint, of a lie.

Rickon then continued. "I understand if you don't want to give me another chance, or for us to get back together…But I don't want to lose you as a friend." He paused and then took her hand again. "I don't why you did this Shireen, but you need to know, there are people who love you in this world Shireen, they would miss you terribly."

She noted there was no one else in the room, but still, he said it with such conviction she believed him. She also made up her mind; it was clear now her thoughts had been wrong, there was no bet, no cruel joke against her, just Ellyn, vindictive as she had been from the moment they met.

She took her chance. "I…I want to try again, but you need to promise me something." He nodded and she explained. "If there are any problems, anything at all, we talk about them."

He nodded again, but still looked uncertain.

"Are you sure, would we be better as just friends first, before…"

But she cut him off by pulling him closer and kissing him, he immediately responded in kind.

When they pulled back they were both smiling.

"You need to promise me the same." Rickon said softly and she agreed.

Before either of them could say anything they heard the sound of rushing footsteps. The next thing Rickon knew he was on the floor, his jaw throbbing and Devan Seaworth standing above him, anger blazing in his eyes. Just behind Devan, Myrcella was holding an equally irate Edric Storm back.

"Devan, Edric stop!" Shireen cried out.

Immediately they did, turning to her, both looked like they were about to complain but Shireen shook her head.

"We've already sorted it out…leave him, please."

So they relented but soon joined Myrcella in showering Shireen with worried questions. She did her best to answer them as Rickon got back up, rubbing his jaw.

She distinctly heard him mutter. "I deserved that." Before sitting back down.

Shireen was amazed as she answered their questions and put their fears to rest. Rickon had been right, there were people who cared for her, she felt terrible now for ever doubting them. However she knew now, she wasn't alone, she could get through this.

Back at school Ellyn Bolton smiled; it had been so good to kiss Rickon; they had gone so far. Then that pathetic baby Shireen showed up and spoiled everything.

'_Still I can forgive him for running away; it helps he's so hot.'_ She thought to herself. _'He's already had a taste he'll be back for more…I can hardly wait; Rickon will be mine in the end.'_

She tugged irritably at her shirt; she hated the winter uniform; it was so restrictive, it covered way too much skin. How was she supposed to flaunt her body and get the attention she deserved if she had to cover up so much?

'_Still, only one month to go until spring starts; then we're back to our other uniforms, I can show off again.'_ She thought with a smile.

That smile vanished however as she turned the corner and saw Rickon and Shireen walking towards her locker, holding hands, her head resting on his shoulder.

'_What the fuck?!'_ She thought, too shocked for words. _'How can they still be together, after what she saw?'_

They reached Shireen's locker and Ellyn watched as Shireen reached up her hand to start entering the combination. As she did her sleeve pulled back and Ellyn stared, wide-eyed when she saw the bandages around Shireen's wrist, she knew right away what they meant. She also saw a way to turn things to her advantage.

She rushed over and was shocked to see Rickon glare, how could he, after the fun they had? Shireen had already finished with her locker and, instead of freezing like she normally did when she saw Ellyn, she actually glared too.

'_You've got some nerve bitch; you won't be glaring for long.'_ Ellyn thought angrily.

She then spoke, the words coming out rapidly. "Rickon don't, can't you see it's a trick; she's trying to take you away from me!"

"Ellyn, enough!" He snapped suddenly.

"It was all a plan to steal you. She's just using you." She tried to put desperation into her voice.

Rickon however merely turned away, putting his arm around Shireen.

"Leave." He said coldly.

She wasn't going to let him slip away, not that easily. "No! I know you love me, you want me!"

"I never wanted you!" Rickon yelled suddenly. "I love Shireen, only Shireen!"

With that he led Shireen away; leaving Ellyn to scowl after them; she wasn't going to let this go, Rickon would be hers in the end, she knew it. Shireen meanwhile was reflecting on what happened over the last week. The doctors kept her in hospital the rest of the week for mental evaluation and now she was visiting a psychologist once a week. On the day she awoke, her mother only came during the last ten minutes of visiting hours; Rickon wisely made himself scarce at that moment. She was surprised when, the moment her father's plane landed he headed immediately to the hospital to see her. But that was his only long visit.

Rickon, Myrcella, Devan and Edric visited every day however, Rickon staying right up to the end of visiting hours; sometimes longer and having to be reminded by the nurses that time was up.

It had been her first day back at school; despite what had happened in the morning, it wasn't as bad as she feared; most people knew what happened, or could guess by her bandaged wrist, but they said nothing. Ellyn tried to mock her and started spreading rumours but that suddenly stopped, it later transpired that Arya had called her out and disgraced her by making her admit what she had done in front of a crowd. She was relieved and grateful to Rickon's sister and Rickon explained that his family were happy they had sorted things out. She also learned that Rickon had indeed been punished for what he had done, but that she would still be allowed to come around to the Starks mansion after school; they were all anxious to see her again. So, after quickly getting changed she joined Rickon at the Starks mansion after school. They had both changed their clothes; Rickon now wore simple denim jeans and a black hooded tank-top. Shireen was wearing a cream mid-thigh length ruffled skirt with brown belt and a white top with lace design. She was also wearing Rickon's family wristband over her bandages. Rickon gave it to her so she didn't have to put up with people staring at them at school. They headed up to his room, as they did he explained to her.

"Dad's still at work, mum will be home soon. Sansa's down in Highgarden with her boyfriend; Bran's away to Jojen's and Arya said she had to go to King's Landing for something."

She nodded; aware now the house was empty apart from them; she was curious however, why had Arya gone to King's Landing?

However the thought was pushed from her mind as they sat on Rickon's bed.

Rickon sighed and then spoke. "I'm sorry about Ellyn today."

"What, did you tell her to spread rumours?" Shireen asked; she knew Rickon was feeling terribly guilty these days; he had to understand it wasn't his fault.

"No but…"

"Then stop apologizing." She explained; then, seeing he was going to complain again and acting on instinct, she kissed him.

Her psychologist said she would do things like this without thinking, especially with those she really trusted; Rickon didn't seem to mind and eagerly returned the kiss. Their mouths opened so their tongues could meet and dance together. They continued to kiss as their position changed; she now lay on the bed, Rickon was on top of her. His mouth moved away from hers and he kissed her scarred cheek before slowly working his way along her jaw and down to her neck. She let out a soft moan as her fingers gripped his auburn curls, enjoying the sensation. Suddenly he nipped her neck with his teeth, making her yelp. He looked up, worried but she smiled.

"Sorry, surprised." She told him before claiming his mouth with hers again.

Her hands were now on his back; she had slid them under the tank top and was tracing his spine with her fingers. Rickon however did not try and touch her under his clothes; he felt he had a long way to go to re-earn that privilege. However his hands began to trace their way along her top, reaching up to her chest; when they were stopped by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

They quickly pulled away, both blushing intensely, embarrassed at being caught. Shireen suppressed a groan as she realized they had been caught by her boyfriend's mother.

"Sorry Mrs. Stark." She stammered out.

Catelyn smiled and shook her head. "Good afternoon you two; Rickon, you know the rules."

He nodded; the rules were, if they had boyfriends or girlfriends over, they had to leave their bedroom doors open. Although he was certain that rule had never been followed by any of his siblings.

"Sorry mum, it won't happen again."

His mother nodded and turned back to Shireen. "I hope not. It's good to see you again Shireen; I hope you're feeling better."

Shireen nodded; calming down. "I am, thank you."

Catelyn seemed amused by something, however she simply said. "I'll give you both a moment to compose yourselves while I prepare a quick snack. Don't take long."

With that she left the room and Shireen buried her face in her hands.

"I don't believe it; that was so embarrassing."

Rickon but his arm around her. "It's alright, I'm sure mum's seen worse, especially when Robb still lived here. It'll be fine."

She looked back up and smiled back at him, reassured. They kissed again lightly. Shireen then stood up and began to leave the room when Rickon called out.

"Um Shireen…"

She turned and he pointed, she looked and her face went scarlet again. She was wearing a pink camo bra with red lace edging and red straps; due to their make out session her top had pulled off her right shoulder, exposing the strap.

She fixed it quickly, even more embarrassed than before. But Rickon reassured her again and they headed downstairs, talking together, both relieved that they had finally sorted things out; that everything was now going to be okay.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	22. Chapter 22

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 22 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Important: For those of you who check my profile page for the outfits, there were links for the previous chapter, I just forgot to mention it, enjoy.**

**Reviews**

**Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, they have, everything's fine for them now. Yeah, I suppose it would be a sight to see.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, it's good for them now.  
zJordan: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, I thought it'd be funny :)  
rubini25: Thanks and yes, they've sorted everything out; don't worry, no matter what else Ellyn plans, they're both ready for it now.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 22**

Jojen sighed; it was now April; back to the summer uniform, he didn't mind the uniform really but sometimes felt ridiculous wearing the uniform shorts. He shook his head; he had something more important to focus on right now. He had to call one of his classmates about a class project they had been assigned to work on. Although he was sure that, as usual, in these situations he would be the one doing all the work.

'_That's their usual plan, let the nerd do all the work then soak up all the credit.'_ He thought sardonically.

He pondered on how, despite both being nerds, he and Bran were different types. Jojen could best be described as a bookish nerd, serious, nose in a book, almost constantly reading. By contrast Bran was the type of nerd into sci-fi and anime; still an unashamed lover comic book superheroes and that sort of thing. Yet, despite their different personalities, they were good friends; he supposed it was similar to the way people reacted around him and Meera. Most people were surprised they were siblings, with him always so solemn and serious and Meera, just the opposite, bright, sunny and cheerful. He reached the phone and picked it up, ready to make his call. He would've used his mobile but it wasn't charged up so he had to use the house phone.

He was about to start dialling the number when he paused; he could hear a voice talking on the phone. It was already in use; he was about to hang up but paused again.

'_That's Bran's voice, maybe he just called.'_ He thought.

Just as Jojen was about to speak though he heard another voice, replying to Bran, his sister's voice.

"So, we are going out tomorrow, right?" His sister asked.

"Yes." Bran replied; sounding happier than Jojen had ever heard him. "I'm taking you out to movies then we can go to that new restaurant you told me about."

Jojen narrowed his eyes in confusion.

'_What are they talking about, why would they be going to the movies together. This doesn't make sense.'_

His thoughts were interrupted by Meera talking to Bran again.

"What movie?" She asked.

He heard Bran hesitate before replying. "I don't know; what do you wanna see? Maybe a…romantic comedy?"

He heard his sister laugh in response; he had to admit, he felt like laughing too, since when was Bran into romantic comedies.

"We don't' need to, sci-fi is fine." He heard Meera say when she stopped laughing. "But, thanks for trying."

"Trying what?"

He then heard Meera's tone drop to a conspiratorial whisper. "Just, trying to be a good boyfriend."

Jojen froze, they both hung up and he numbly put the phone down before retreating back to his room, all thoughts of the class project had been pushed from his mind.

He sat heavily on the bed, still in shock.

'_I don't believe this; my sister, and my best friend.'_ He thought, stunned. _'They're dating, they're dating and they never told me…Is that, is that where Meera went when she picked me up from prom, she went back and spoke to him, they both started acting a lot less awkward after that.'_

His thoughts kept whirling as he took in what he had just heard.

He couldn't deny he felt slightly betrayed. _'I can't believe they never told me. I mean, I understand why they're worried, Bran is underage, but didn't they trust me?'_

He knew he would have to find some way to talk to them about it. However he was still thinking, still processing his discovery. So when Bran called later in the afternoon he acted as if everything was normal. At dinner he pretended everything was fine and chatted with Meera the way he usually did. The whole time however; his mind was racing with thoughts and implications of his discovery, one thing he knew for certain however, there was no danger of him revealing their relationship to anyone. He wanted them to know that and of course to know he knew about their relationship, the tricky part would be talking to them, he'd rather do it separately. Finally he made up his mind; he would do so tomorrow, with that in mind he prepared himself, knowing what he had to do.

So the following day, during lunch at school, Jojen sat with Bran as usual. Finally, during a lull in the conversation Jojen spoke up.

"You know, we haven't actually…talked in a while." He stated.

Bran looked at him, confused. "We talk every day, we're talking right now."

Jojen shook his head. "No, I mean really talk, you know, anything new going on?"

He noticed Bran visibly tense and gulp, he wondered if Bran had done that before and he had been oblivious. Bran then replied. "No, everything's the same."

Jojen frowned. _'Unreal, how could lie to my face like that.'_

"Are you sure?" He asked; trying to hint that he knew Bran was lying.

Bran didn't take the hint however. "Yeah, everything's fine."

Jojen decided it was time to come clean with his newfound knowledge. "Bran, you're dating my sister."

Bran gaped at him; despite him already being pale, Jojen swore all colour drained from Bran's face.

"You…You know?"

Jojen nodded. "I was hoping you'd confess. Don't worry I'm not gonna tell anyone, I get why you kept it secret."

Bran nodded; he knew he would now have to explain himself to Jojen.

"Look, I'm sorry; we wanted more time, to prepare ourselves, before we told you."

Jojen smiled.

"I understand, what I want to know however…" He added, becoming more serious. "Is what your intentions towards Meera are."

Bran nodded, he guessed this was coming; he was dating his best friend's sister after all.

Bran sighed and then explained.

"I really like her…"

Jojen raised an eyebrow. "Like her?"

Bran lowered his head and admitted. "Yeah, like's not a strong enough word, I love her. She's amazing, beautiful, funny, cool."

Jojen nodded slowly.

"You better treat her right." Bran nodded in agreement. "Or else I'll kick your ass."

Bran smirked at that. "Deal."

Jojen smirked back; feeling somewhat relieved, that was one hurdle crossed; now he just needed to talk to Meera before she and Bran left for their date tonight. So, once he got home he quickly got changed out of his uniform and, once dressed in his usual more casual clothes, he headed through to Meera's room. He knocked on the door and she invited him in. She was sitting on her bed, acting casual, but Jojen noticed that her clothes were slightly neater than usual. It also looked like she had at least tried to comb or tame her hair, without much success, so she was now holding it back with a bandana.

"What's up little brother?" She asked casually, a little too casually he noted.

"Nothing much, just wondering if you had something you wanted to tell me?"

Meera narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

Jojen groaned. "Not you too, I already went through this with Bran."

"Oh." Her eyes widened as she realized.

He nodded. "I know and yes, I'm okay with it."

Meera looked relieved at that; Jojen then asked.

"I still need to know, what your intentions are."

Meera smiled lightly.

"I want him to be happy; I want to make him happy." She replied.

She looked like she was going to say more but Jojen had heard enough; he didn't need Meera going into detail about the qualities she found attractive in Bran.

"Okay; just please…don't hurt him." He said.

Meera nodded and Jojen left, allowing her to finish getting ready.

So that evening Meera was driving with Bran down to Riverrun; the film Bran had chosen was being shown at the cinema there. Jojen had helped them by providing an excuse for Bran to come around to the Reed's house. That way, Bran wouldn't have to sneak back home and could go through the front door normally. Bran smiled, he had to admit, it felt good having Jojen in on their secret; it felt like a lot of pressure had been lifted. They both knew Jojen would never betray them and that in turn, helped them realize that, not only was their secret still safe; they could be a little more open in their relationship now. So long as it was just Jojen around, they didn't have to hide things anymore. They finally arrived at the cinema, got the tickets and entered. Although Meera had to be honest, if anyone asked her about the film, she wouldn't have been able to answer them. Not because she didn't understand it but because she and Bran spent most of the film necking instead of paying attention to it. When it was done they headed out immediately to the restaurant. The restaurant was fancy and served all kinds of food, including some from places as far as Braavos or Lys. While waiting for their meal there was silence, finally Meera spoke up.

"I'm glad we had this chance Bran." She said softly. "I know it's not easy for you, keeping this secret but…"

Bran shook his head. "I don't mind, I know it's not easy for you either."

She smiled; there was a brief pause before Bran spoke again.

"You know, I think we're not the only ones." He said. "Having a secret relationship I mean."

Meera raised an eyebrow and he shrugged.

"Just a feeling I've got, Arya's been acting kind of strange lately, a bit like me, whenever you text or call."

Meera smiled at that, it was an interesting thought, definitely curious.

Later in the night Meera parked her car outside the Stark mansion; they then kissed.

"Thanks, tonight was great." She said softly.

Bran smiled. "I'm glad you enjoyed it; we should do this again sometime."

Meera nodded but then spoke up. "Might have to wait for a while; I'll be back at college again next week, and I'll be there until the end of the semester."

Bran sighed but accepted it and they said their goodbyes before he got out of the car. He waved to her as she drove away and headed inside. It turned out his parents had bought his excuse and Jojen had indeed covered for him. They had seen the car but also accepted his explanation that Jojen's sister had kindly offered to drive him home. Back up in his room he got ready for bed, smiling; tonight had been perfect, he just hoped that someday, when things wouldn't cause such a huge problem, he'd be able to reveal the truth to his parents.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	23. Chapter 23

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 23 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, well, he is quite mature for his age :)  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, got that right :)  
zJordan: Well, he's happy for them, that's all that should matter.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 23**

Arya groaned as she stood in front of the mirror in her underwear.

'_This is an absolute nightmare.'_ She thought to herself as she groaned inwardly. _'Why am I even doing this, I usually don't give a damn how I appear, it's never important.'_

However this time she knew it was important; she was going down to King's Landing for a date with Gendry. However the truth was, despite wanting to at least try and look neat, she was stuck. She couldn't ask for help, she knew her mother and Sansa would wonder why she was asking for advice and then her secret would be revealed. She shook her head; she was being ridiculous, worrying over nothing. True alcohol had been involved but Gendry had liked her just fine the way she was, he had liked her that way the moment they first met. Still, it would help if she looked somewhat neater she supposed.

'_Hmmm, oh, whatever, this'll do.' _She decided finally.

She pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans, a light blue tank-top and over it she wore her own leather jacket; she then pulled on her socks and her favourite combat boots. Satisfied she pondered her hair again; she had just applied fresh dye to it this morning, it had also been cut short again. She felt it was as neat as it was going to get, no need to worry about it; finally she regarded the light coat of navy blue eye-liner, her one concession to make-up. It definitely wouldn't match up to the standards Sansa usually set herself, but it was good enough. She left her room and headed downstairs; knowing everybody else was out she knew she could easily leave.

Before leaving however Arya left a note for her mother, explaining she was down in King's Landing. She had the perfect alibi all set up, all thanks to her being charged with assault several months ago. After charging and fining her the judge recommended she also take part in some community service activities. True to form Arya ignored this advice, but her family didn't know that, in fact it gave her the perfect excuse to go to King's Landing whenever she wanted. Smiling to herself she left the note on the kitchen table and left the house; she hurried to the bus stop and, once on the bus pulled out her phone and texted Gendry.

"_just left the house, will see you at the bus stop."_

She didn't have to wait long for a reply.

"_Cool; I'll see you there, can't wait to see you again."_

She couldn't help but smile; she couldn't deny she missed being with Gendry physically. They sent texts to each other every day but it had been a while before she had been able to make it down to King's Landing without arousing suspicion. She couldn't keep using the same excuse over and over again after all. She sat silently, thinking quietly to herself, mostly about Gendry. She found it strange, ever since Jon left and even more keenly after hearing about his death, she felt as if a hole had been left in her heart. Yet she felt that now, Gendry had filled that hole, albeit in a different way from Jon.

She smiled wider as she got off the bus and saw him standing waiting for her. He wore black fashionably torn jeans, a denim shirt, his own leather jacket and black boots. She hurried over to him and they hugged, he lifted her off the ground as he hugged her, they kissed and finally parted and he put her down.

"Hey." He greeted her casually. "It's good to see you again; I missed you."

She bit her lip then admitted. "I missed you too. So, what do you wanna do for our date?"

Gendry shrugged. "I thought we could go see a movie."

Arya laughed.

"That's all?"

He shook his head. "I figured we'd get something to eat too…although…"

"You can't afford to eat at a fancy big restaurant." She remarked. "I was hoping that, that sort of thing is so old-fashioned, sounds like something Sansa would do; or Bran for that matter."

Gendry couldn't help but smile. _'Gods what did I do to deserve her?'_

So, holding hands they headed to the nearest cinema. After the movie Arya turned to Gendry.

"So, what are we gonna do about food?" She asked.

Gendry shifted from foot to foot.

"Well, I'm afraid…the best I can offer is take-out food." He replied.

Arya smiled. "That's perfect, let's see what's on the menu then."

Gendry laughed and led her to his favourite take-out restaurant.

Gendry smiled as he ate, they were back in his apartment, sitting at the table, eating their food. The longer he dated Arya, the more they seemed to be perfect for each other. It had reached the stage that they barely needed words to communicate. As such he noticed that something seemed off about Arya. She was enjoying herself, but something seemed off, it was as if she was sad, as if, something was eating away inside her.

"Arry." She looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, I'm fine."

He sighed. "Arry, do you trust me?"

She nodded and then sighed.

"Okay…I…" She bit her lip again and finally continued. "I miss Jon."

Gendry lowered his head; Arya had told him about Jon, her cousin who had gone to the army and subsequently died in a fire-bombing. She also spoke to him about the troubles she had at home with her family too. However he also noted that she seemed a lot calmer and happier now. Still, when she explained what was troubling her he saw a rare tear begin to fall. He stepped around the table and pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay to miss him; I remember what you told me about him." He told her gently. "He meant a lot to you."

Arya nodded and finally managed to calm down. "Gendry I…Thank you; it's amazing, everything in my life has changed, ever since I met you."

He smiled and they kissed again.

Arya, now completely calm, smiled. "We better finish the food before it goes cold."

He smiled back and they returned to their food; he noted that she seemed calmer and knew she just needed to talk to someone and have a shoulder to cry on.

Finally they finished their meal and Gendry walked her back to bus stop. Once there they hugged and kissed as they had when she arrived.

"Let's not wait too long until we do this again, okay." She said softly.

He nodded in agreement. "Deal; text me when you get home, okay."

She agreed and quickly got on the bus; waving goodbye to him as the bus pulled away. She leaned back in her seat and smiled. She felt relieved and grateful to Gendry, just by having him in her life made her feel so much better. She had felt so sullen and angry all the time, but he made her feel like there was hope left in her life. When she got off the bus and headed home she stopped just outside and bit her lip, time for the moment of truth. Her family was home; hopefully they saw the note and believed it. She walked up to the door, opened it and stepped inside. Her mother was just coming out of the kitchen and saw her.

"Welcome back Arya." She said. "How did everything go, I got your note."

Arya smiled; it looked like things had worked. "Everything was great mum, thanks. Well I'm pretty tired, good night."

Catelyn nodded and Arya headed up to her room. She quickly got ready for bed and smiled as, for once, she had something positive to put in her diary, writing about Gendry and how he had helped her come to terms with losing Jon. Satisfied she closed the diary; put it back under her bed before climbing into bed. She quickly texted Gendry and waited for his reply before lying down. She smiled; just two more years then she could be open about her relationship with Gendry. She would be of legal age then and even if they didn't like it, her parents wouldn't be able to stop it; she felt however that they wouldn't mind, but until then, she knew she would still need to keep the secret.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	24. Chapter 24

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 24 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Glad you liked it.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, glad you liked the date.  
SweetImagination15: Thanks, glad you've been enjoying it so far, just wait and see what happens; things are about to take a turn.  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, glad you liked Jojen; hmmm, I suppose you're right. Yeah, that's what I thought too; actually, you've got that right, well, just wait and see what happens, all I can say is, the storm is brewing.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 24**

Sansa smiled as she checked herself in the mirror; she was clad in a lilac strapless dress that reached down to two inches above her knees decorated with flower designs, it was held up by a wooden circle attached to the dress and a few wooden beads and a loop of lilac material that went around her neck. To finish off the outfit she wore white strappy hi-heels; her make-up she had done her best to do professionally and it was barely noticeable, merely enhanced her looks without being overdone. She had fixed her hair and she was now ready. She smiled; it was a special day, she was finally graduating from high school. She smiled; despite everything that had caused her distress in this final year, she had made it. She was going to graduate and finally ready to face the real world. She turned away from the mirror, picked up her graduation gown and cap and headed downstairs. Her family was waiting downstairs; along with Jeyne and Willas. Margaery would meet them all there. Her family had all dressed their best, her father and brothers were all in designer denim jeans and each wore a T-shirt showing a symbol for an ace of each suite of cards. Robb and Rickon's shirts were black, Robb's advertised the ace of clubs, Rickon's the ace of spades. Bran and Ned's white showing the ace of hearts and the ace of diamonds respectively.

Her mother wore a denim button up top with rolled back sleeves and brown weave belt, white three-quarter length trousers and brown heels. Even Arya had made the effort to dress up nice, clad in designer skinny jeans and a short sleeved green T-shirt with a beaded design in the shape of a star, she also wore simple yet nice grey flats and had a black handbag hanging from her shoulder. Jeyne was sitting next to Robb, resting her head on his shoulder. She was wearing a dark blue tank-top with a low V-neck and forest green trousers with a black waistband and navy blue heels. Willas came up to her, smiling widely; he was clad in dark blue designer jeans, black and white shiny sneakers, a crisp white button-up shirt and a black and grey hooded jacket which he wore unzipped. He embraced and kissed her.

"You look amazing, love." He told her softly.

She smiled back widely. "Thank you."

They stepped back and Sansa turned to her family. Her father smiled and hugged her.

"I'm proud of you Sansa, you've done really well."

Sansa thanked him and her mother who also told her how proud she was. She spoke to the other family members; Arya last as she had been texting on her phone, sitting separate from everybody else. As she came up Arya smiled.

"Great work Sansa." Arya said, sounding happier than Sansa had ever heard her.

They hugged and Sansa spoke.

"Thank you Arya."

Then Arya whispered. "Any tips for the exams I've still to do."

Sansa laughed and shook her head apologetically. Arya still had three more exams to deal with before she was done for the summer.

Her father reminded her of the time and they all quickly left the house, heading to the cars. They quickly drove to the school and arrived, they exited the cars and suddenly Sansa nearly stumbled as someone tackle-hugged her.

"Sansa!"

Sansa smiled. "Hi Jeyne."

Her best friend stepped back, smiling, joy dancing in her eyes

"I can't believe it." She said excitedly. "We're finally graduating."

Sansa nodded. "I know, it's incredible; we put in the effort and now, we've done it."

Jeyne nodded as her father came up and together they headed to the school hall. She looked around, smiling as she noticed all the others here too; studiously ignoring Joffrey. Although she smiled at Myrcella when she saw her, despite her break-up with Joffrey, Myrcella remained friendly with Sansa. Before long the headmaster stood up and made his speech; they had already changed into their gowns and caps. Finally they were all being called forwards, one by one, alphabetically by last name, to receive their diplomas. They worked through the names; Sansa pursed her lips when she saw Joffrey's smug expression as he received his diploma. She was aware he was looking at her, clearly trying to act as if he was still superior to her. She no longer cared and ignored him as the names continued to be called.

As the names continued to be called Sansa smiled to herself. She couldn't believe she was finally done with high school; finally she could start real life, away from false friends, vain cheerleading teams, fights over nothing. She could be herself, not worry about being the popular one and everything she used to try and work for. The last year had been a huge wakeup call and she was grateful for that. She was sitting waiting for her name to be called; they were currently on the M's. Eventually they reached the P's and Sansa heard the name.

"Jeyne Poole!"

Along with the other students and people in the hall; Sansa began applauding, she was clapping harder than she knew she could, she didn't mind, this was her best friend. She looked back at where the families sat, Jeyne's father was also applauding, pride radiating off him, her own family was also applauding, Jeyne was almost like a family member, almost like a sister to Sansa. A sister she could talk to about things she couldn't talk to Arya about. Jeyne smiled at Sansa as she returned to her seat and sat down. Sansa went back to waiting as they continued through the names. Then finally the headmaster called out.

"Sansa Stark!"

She smiled as she went to receive her diploma.

As she went up; her family began applauding, with Robb chanting her name while Rickon whistled, Sansa climbed the stairs trying not to fall she accepted the diploma and smiled at her family on the crowd, mum and dad were clapping, and mum had tears in her eyes like she had when Robb graduated only two years back. Robb alternated between whistling and chanting Sansa's name, Jeyne was also clapping, smiled and privately rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's antics. Arya and Bran were clapping too, looking proud of Sansa, Rickon had climbed on the chair and just like Robb whistling and chanting her name; and both Margaery and her boyfriend clapped with smiles in their faces while Willas mouthed "love you."

She took back her place in the sits and waited for the ceremony to end. After the ceremony ended Jeyne hurried to Sansa and they hugged; laughing and even crying. They had done it, they had finished High School. They couldn't wait to get out of the stuffy old gowns and join the after party, celebrating the beginning of their real lives. They rushed to their families and hugged them; soon Willas hugged Sansa and kissed her.

"I'm so proud of you, Sans." He said happily.

She smiled back. "Thanks love."

After quickly changing out of the stuffy gowns, they quickly reunited with their families and headed out to the picnic benches outside. It was here the after party was being held; they grabbed plates of food and sat down at one of the benches, Jeyne and her father sat with them. They kept talking, congratulating her and complimenting her too. She felt slightly embarrassed and not used to all the attention. Robb was trying to convince her to go to the same college as him, but she refused, not wanting to be spied on by her older brother through her college life.

After they finished eating Sansa noticed that Arya had left the group. Arya's strange behaviour the past several months just wouldn't leave Arya's mind; so she excused herself and went looking for her sister; planning, if she found her, to try and get some answers. She stopped suddenly, she had found Arya, but Arya wasn't alone. In the woods, out of sight of the party, Arya was embraced in a passionate lip-lock with a tall young man, older even than Robb, perhaps a year older than Willas. He had messy black hair and blue eyes, rather muscular and clad in clothes made out of leather and denim, his jeans were leather except for the pockets which were denim, a denim shirt, a black sleeveless zip up leather top. She thought about leaving but something made her stay, she couldn't understand this. They parted for air and Sansa saw Arya smiling, looking happier than ever before.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, surprised.

The man laughed good-naturedly. "I was just passing by and saw you guys go in. I decided to wait and talk to you. How was it?"

Arya smiled wider. "It was fun; Sansa looked beautiful…as usual."

"Not as beautiful as you, I'm sure." The man replied.

Arya responded by punching him in the arm, although Sansa detected a blush on her cheeks.

'_They're so sweet, but…'_ Sansa was twirling a lock of hair around her finger again. _'But he's too old for her, too tall and strong, too…rough.'_

She was worried for them, but decided not to confront them and returned to the table.

Sansa remained seated next to Willas, enjoying the party, she saw Arya return and join the table. Sansa noticed her sister was still blushing but didn't draw attention to it, she just hoped nothing bad happened, she had a feeling of foreboding that something bad was coming soon.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please. I would upload pictures on my profile page of the outfits but there is a, hopefully, temporary problem with the links I have, if it gets fixed I'll upload them and let you know, thanks.


	25. Chapter 25

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 25 of my Game of Thrones story; enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Well, read on and find out.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it all, well, sadly, it can't last, wait and see.  
SweetImagination15: Yup, well, wait and see.  
rubini25: Yup, they are; what was it you and Sansa agreed on?**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 25**

Catelyn sighed as she drove home from work. It had been a long day; she was finding it harder and harder to concentrate these days, she and Ned still had arguments and struggled to maintain a happy façade for their children. Everything that had happened over the past several months had also been taxing for her and played on her mind constantly. Still she felt some happiness, just yesterday her eldest daughter had graduated from high school. She was proud of her daughter; yet felt sad that it confirmed her daughter was now all grown up. True there had been problems with Sansa over the months, regarding her toxic relationship with Joffrey, but that was over now, much to her relief. The more she pondered on her feelings regarding Sansa's graduation, the more she noticed similarities to how she felt when Robb graduated.

'_Just two more years until it's Arya's turn…provided she puts in the effort and gets the necessary grades.'_ She thought to herself. _'Honestly; Arya's a smart girl, she can do it, if she would just apply herself.'_

Catelyn sighed as she stopped her car for a traffic light. While waiting she glanced to her left and suddenly froze. Standing next to a car was Arya; what shocked Catelyn however was a tall, muscular man, clearly the owner of the car and she noted, much older, at least seven years older than Arya. What disturbed her about him, was he and Arya were kissing passionately, in a way that just screamed boyfriend and girlfriend.

The light changed and she drove home, still shocked by what she had seen. She couldn't believe it, Arya, kissing that man, she felt anger; how could he take advantage of her little girl like that? Worse still; Arya seemed to be encouraging him, she couldn't let this stand, for Arya's own good she'd have to intervene. But she had to know more; she had to know how long this had been going on for. When she got home she parked the car and headed inside; there she found Ned and Sansa in the living room.

"Ned, we need to talk, it's urgent." She said.

He looked up. "Cat, what's going on?"

She looked over at Sansa and then looked for the others; she couldn't see them so she asked where they were.

"Up in their rooms, Rickon's doing his homework. I don't know what Bran's doing; he shut the door and locked it." Sansa replied.

Catelyn nodded and, deciding it was now or never; told them about what she had witnessed. Ned looked horrified; he clearly felt the same as her about the situation. However Cat noticed a sudden look of guilt flash across Sansa's face.

"Sansa, you knew?" She asked; stunned that her daughter would keep something like this from her.

Sansa bowed her head. "Yes; I…I saw them at graduation, that's where Arya went when she left the table."

Catelyn was surprised to hear Sansa sounding so miserable. She should've told them right away, for Arya's own good.

Arya smiled as she headed back home. Gendry had to return home to King's Landing but she hoped to hear from him again soon. However as soon as she opened the door she froze, she sensed immediately something was wrong. She saw her parents standing there, looking at her severely while Sansa sat on the couch, looking downcast.

"Arya, sit down." Her father said, gesturing to the other couch.

Arya walked over and sat down; she suddenly felt edgy, her father only ever used that tone when she was in trouble. But she couldn't think of anything she had done wrong.

She shook her head. "What's going on?"

It was then her mother revealed the horrific truth, she had seen her with Gendry, she knew.

"Arya, you cannot see this boy anymore." Her mother stated. "He's leading you astray, taking advantage of you."

Arya was shocked, she couldn't believe it; her mother could do this to her. "No, mum, listen…"

Catelyn shook her head. "That's final; Arya. I'm doing this for you own good, you…"

Hearing that pathetic excuse however told Arya that her mother, once again was acting on her own misguided ideas; not caring about Arya's feelings.

"Mum, you don't understand…I love him…"

Cat frowned. "Arya; no, I told you, it's final, you're not seeing him again, he's just using you, he's far too old for you and…"

Arya however had enough; she wasn't going to take this anymore, despite her efforts to control herself, her temper snapped.

Upstairs Bran was on his computer, skyping with Meera. Suddenly he heard screaming and yelling from downstairs; he recognized the voices as his mother and Arya. They were having another of their arguments, however this sounded worse than their previous arguments.

"I need to go." He told Meera. "Family drama."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay, call me later."

He agreed and ended their chat, unlocked his room and headed downstairs. He wasn't sure what exactly started it, but clearly Arya's temper had snapped and from there it had been a build-up, following that it had escalated. Arya and mum stood screaming at each other. Meanwhile dad stood to the side, ready to separate them if things got too far; Sansa sat on the couch, her face buried in her hands. As Bran listened he realized that all the rage that had accumulated within Arya since Jon had left; was all coming out at once. It also transpired that the reason this all started was because Arya was dating an older man. He frowned; he couldn't see any problem with Arya's relationship, it was the same with him and Meera, but clearly mum disagreed. Bran however felt the need to intervene; before Arya lost it and said something she might really regret.

"Mum, enough, what's the big deal?" He interjected.

Cat turned to him, looking enraged. "She's dating a man seven years older than her; it's…"

Bran cut across her. "It's none of our business, besides, what should it matter; and before you start, I do understand what it's like for Arya. My girlfriend's twenty-two."

He knew he had done it now; he had exposed his relationship; but it was necessary, besides, he knew Meera would understand.

There was a collective gasp as everybody in the room stared at him. Then his mother glared.

"You can't be serious Bran." She said. "You, of all people, I thought…"

Bran shook his head. "If this guy makes Arya happy and treats her right, that's all that should matter."

Catelyn sighed. "Enough Bran, this is not acceptable, I…"

His mother started lecturing him, but Bran was only half listening. With everyone's attention directed at him he glanced over at Arya and raised his eyebrows questioningly. She understood and slipped out of the room. Arya sighed as she entered her room; she knew what she had to do now, she had no other choice. She immediately opened her wardrobe and grabbed her suitcase, she gathered all the clothes she could and quickly packed, she closed the suitcase, zipped it up and; taking a deep breath, pulled out her diary. She then wrote one more short entry in it and grabbed her suitcase. She slipped downstairs; she could still hear her mother lecturing Bran, who stood, making sure their backs were to her. She felt bad for her poor brother, but grateful that he supported her, even understood her, she was amazed he was in a similar relationship. When Bran saw her he did not react, but she quickly mouthed 'thank you' before leaving the house.

Bran remained stoic as his mother continued lecturing her. Finally he shook his head.

"Mum, enough, look, I love this girl; she's amazing, beautiful, funny…"

"She's twenty-two; she's too old for you." Catelyn stated firmly. "She's taking advantage of you; I don't want to hear any more of this; you and Arya need to end this, before it's too late."

Bran shook his head. "Mum, you're impossible, you're being unreasonable."

With that he turned and stalked away, heading back to his room, ignoring his mother calling after him. Later in the night Bran sat on his bed; he had changed into his pyjamas, but couldn't sleep. He had told Meera about everything that had happened; she had indeed understood and didn't feel upset about him exposing their relationship, although she agreed with him, things were likely to become more difficult for them now. He headed down to the kitchen, still unable to sleep. He stopped at the kitchen entrance; frozen. His mother was sitting on the floor, tears falling down her face, some partially dried already. She was clutching a photograph in her hand; going by the open frame that Bran recognized it was the family photograph; almost immediately he felt swallowed by guilt. He didn't want to break up with Meera, in fact, he refused to do so, but in doing so he was hurting his mother; he fled back to his room, wondering if any of the family got any sleep that night. He knew now, mum had realized Arya had run away.

The moment she left the house, Arya hurried to the bus stop. She stopped and pulled out her phone; it rang a few times and then he answered.

"Hey Arry." She felt the tension leave her body as she heard Gendry's voice.

"Gendry, I need your help, I…I…"

She broke down and admitted the whole story; finally she took a deep breath. "I can't stay there Gendry, I…I was wondering if…"

"You want to come stay with me?"

"Yeah, I mean, I know, I'll need to change a lot of things, I'll need to get a job, change my name, I can't let my family know where I am."

Gendry sighed. "Okay Arya, I'll be there to pick you up at the bus stop…What about your brother, Bran, surely you can trust him?"

Arya pondered for a moment. "Yeah, you're right, but Bran is the only one I can trust…I'll see how things go, see you soon."

She hung up and got on the bus. She had run away like this before, but this time, this time, unless her mother changed her mind and accepted that Arya was in love with Gendry…She knew she wouldn't be able to come back. When the bus stopped Arya grabbed her suitcase and headed off the bus; she saw Gendry immediately and hurried over to him. They hugged and she felt better instantly; she knew what lay ahead of her would be hard, but she refused to give up. Unless her mother changed her mind; she had to stay away until she learned that Arya and Gendry truly loved each other, until she accepted them.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	26. Chapter 26

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 26 of my Game of Thrones story.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Hmmm, well, she's only doing what she thinks is best.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
SweetImagination15: Well, things have taken a drastic turn; yeah, since they're in the same boat, Bran's the only family member Arya now trusts; although Rickon doesn't have a problem, Arya has her own reasons for not contacting him.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, things have gotten pretty drastic; Arya is doing the only thing she felt she could do. Yes Cat's pretty torn up right now.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 26**

Bran sighed as he headed downstairs the following morning. He wasn't looking forward to breakfast; especially after everything that happened. He found the family all gathered in the kitchen.

"What do you mean 'she's gone', Cat?" Dad asked; sounding distressed.

Mum shook her head, sadly. "After our argument…Arya just left, she's disappeared, she's not in her room; she's ran away."

Ned shook his head. "But, she did this before remember…"

"This is different." Cat stated. "I…Her wardrobe's empty; her suitcase is gone. She's taken her clothes, she's ran away Ned, she's not coming back."

It was then she looked over and saw Bran there.

"Bran; I want you to tell the truth; when you told us about your girlfriend, did you ensure Arya could run away."

Bran glared. "Of course I did; better that than she put with this nonsense."

"Bran!" His father snapped. "That's enough, you and Arya…"

"Are in love, I thought of all people, you and mum would understand that, but I guess not…All you care about is your reputation; not us, not our feelings!"

With that he turned and stalked out of the kitchen. He stopped just out of sight and listened; meanwhile, in the kitchen, Cat had sunk into her seat, burying her face in her hands. Ned sighed, both aware of Rickon and Sansa looking at them.

Finally after a pause Catelyn sighed.

"I'm sorry, we've got no other choice Ned, we need to call the police." She explained. "File a missing persons report."

Ned nodded. "Yes, you're right; I'll call them right away."

Cat then left the kitchen, as she did so; she heard the footsteps and noticed Bran disappearing upstairs. She sighed as she felt the sadness again; it was like her family was falling apart, it was definitely falling now. Arya had run away, lost in a blind rage like Lyanna, who knew if she was even still alive. Worse than that; Bran, her second son, the one who she admitted she tended to favour a bit over the others, he now hated her. She slowly made her way upstairs and then stopped as she heard Bran, it sounded like he was on the phone. She listened carefully, wondering if he was talking to that woman he was dating. However her heart leapt as she listened.

"Yeah, I know Arya." He was saying. "They're calling the police, don't worry though, just trust me."

'_She is alive.'_ Catelyn realized, relief flooding through her.

However she also felt more sorrow; judging from the way he had sounded, Arya knew the police were coming, yet she seemed to be discussing something with Bran. It occurred to her that, due to their similar dating issues, Bran might be the only family member Arya intended to speak to or even get in touch with. She headed back downstairs; she waited nervously until there was a knock at the door; the police had arrived.

They spoke to the police, detailing everything they needed; also explaining about Arya's boyfriend; eventually Cat explained.

"I know she's still alive, I don't know exactly where she is though." She paused and then explained. "I heard her talking to my son Bran on his phone."

The officer nodded. "So, your son is in contact with her?"

"It seems that way, but it doesn't look like she's going to talk to anyone else…I, he took her side, because he's in a similar situation."

"Dating an older woman?" Cat nodded and the officer continued. "I see; ah…"

He paused and Catelyn looked up; Bran was standing in the doorway, glaring.

"Bran Stark I presume?" The officer asked.

Bran nodded. "That's right; before you ask, yes I called Arya, yes I told her about this visit."

The officer looked at Bran seriously. "You should tell us where she is and save your family a lot of distress."

"I don't think so." Bran stated. "I don't know _where_ she is exactly, only that she's now living with her boyfriend…" He then glared at his mother. "…And that she's happy."

The officer shook his head. "You're disrupting a police investigation by not telling us what you know…"

Bran merely glared. "Then arrest me, fine me, whatever you're gonna do, I'm not betraying Arya."

Catelyn was shocked at this. "Betraying her, Bran, she needs to come home, she's not…"

"She is happy mum!" Bran yelled. "This has nothing to do with family reputation, she loves her boyfriend and is happy with him, just like I love my girlfriend, you just can't accept that."

He then turned to the officer and shook his head.

"I wouldn't bother launching an investigation officer; Arya doesn't want to be found…" He looked back at his parents. "I promise, if you make her come home, or if you use me to find her, neither of us will speak to you ever again."

With that he left; returning to his room.

The officer was silent for a minute and then shook his head.

"Well, I'm afraid there's not much else I can do here." He stated. "I'll distribute your daughter's description and details of the case to other police departments. Although, it would help if you could find out more about your daughter's relationship…Maybe it would help you too, and finding out more about your son's relationship too."

With that the officer left; Catelyn shook her head, this hadn't gone as planned, how could Bran act like this; it wasn't right? But still; the officer had one point, before she could truly do anything, she'd need to find out more about Bran's relationship with this woman; but right now, she had to focus on the search for Arya. Meanwhile, up in his room, Bran was pacing, still fuming. He couldn't believe his parents, but he did glean some important information, he could help Arya out. He quickly picked up his phone and called her.

"Yeah?" She replied immediately, she knew it was him, she always checked her caller ID now.

Bran sighed and explained about the police visit, including the important part. "Mum gave them a description of you, she mentioned how you cut your hair and dyed it black…They'll be looking for you."

Arya inhaled sharply. "Thanks for the heads up Bran; I owe you one."

"No worries."

With that they hung up. Despite passing on the information and warning Arya; Bran found he was unable to calm down; he shook his head and made up his mind. He dialled the number and waited for a response.

"Bran?"

He smiled; just the sound of her voice was already beginning to calm her. "Hey Meera."

He sat down on the bed and prepared to talk to her about his current problems.

Arya sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror; she had washed the black dye out of her hair. She thought about Bran's warning; the police were looking for a girl with short hair dyed jet black. She had to change her look; especially since they also had a basic description of her. She had settled into a new life with Gendry, she changed her name, using his affectionate nickname for her, Arry, as her new name. She had managed to get a part time job too. Now she had to change her appearance again. She had already dismissed the red hair dye; it would likely enhance what little Tully traits she had and make her more noticeable as Arya Stark. She dismissed certain other colours too; she pondered the two dye bottles in her hands.

'_Hmm, let's see…Blue or purple?'_ She thought to herself.

Finally she made up her mind and got to work. Gendry sighed as he returned home from work; he had heard from Arya about the police visiting her family. He was just hopeful that nothing would incriminate her and reveal where she was. The bathroom door opened; he smiled, ready to greet Arya. But his greeting died on his lips as his eyes widened in shock.

"A-Arry, what the…?" He stammered out.

She shrugged, she had changed her hair dye, her hair was now blue. "The police know about me dying my hair black, so I changed the colour…Make it harder for them to find me; I have no intention of going back, not until they accept us."

Gendry nodded in understanding and kissed her; he just hoped, for Arya's sake, that it didn't take long for that to happen.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	27. Chapter 27

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 27 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, well, he understands her, he's in similar circumstances :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)  
rubin25: Thanks, it certainly is, well, Bran understands her, being in a similar relationship with Meera. Yup, she does; well, it's more a case of his temper hasn't broken, as for the police, they could see it would be pointless, as Bran said, he didn't care what they did to him, he wouldn't betray Arya.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 27**

Catelyn sighed sadly; she couldn't believe what had happened. It had been a whole week since she had filed a missing persons report with the police. Yet, true to what Bran had claimed, Arya didn't want to be found. She had remained hidden, throughout the whole week; nobody had so much as caught a glimpse of her. Catelyn found her nerves were frayed; she felt like everything she had worked so hard for in her family was falling apart. The only glimmer of hope for her was the knowledge that Arya was still alive, she still stayed in contract with Bran. However Bran was also angry at her too, due to him being in similar circumstances regarding their dating issues. She sighed; clearly, right now, she would get nowhere looking for Arya. There was still the issue regarding Bran and the woman he was dating; she recalled what the officer had said; she needed to know more. She didn't feel she could do this herself; especially with Bran so angry at her right now. However there was still a problem; due to all the tension they had to put up with, her marriage was becoming more and more strained. She feared it was close to breaking point, she and Ned had been arguing every day now. Still, she felt it would be better if they spoke to Bran together, hopefully Bran would be calmer and more open with his father.

So she headed through to the study and knocked before entering. Ned was there, working; he looked up as she came in and stiffened.

"Cat." He greeted; his voice slightly tense.

She tried not to let that get to her and stayed calm. "Ned; I've been thinking…maybe we should talk to Bran."

He shook his head. "It's pointless Cat, he's too suspicious of us, he's not going to tell us where Arya is…Besides…"

"I don't mean that." She said quickly. "I mean…We should talk to him, about his girlfriend. I think we should try and find out more about her."

Ned sighed. "Maybe, listen Cat; even if we talk to him about her, I don't think Bran dating is…"

She shook her head. "I wouldn't mind him dating; but this girl, no, this woman is too old for him."

"Well, let's not prejudge her until we get to know her, okay."

She sighed and nodded and together they left the study, heading up to Bran's room. Catelyn was worried, it seemed like Ned was changing his mind; had he forgotten just how dangerous this woman would be, leading Bran astray like this. Before Ned knocked on the door Cat stopped him.

"Wait, listen."

He did so and they listened, they could hear Bran; he was talking to Arya; the talk was just ending and he hung up. Cat nodded to Ned and they knocked on the door and entered. Bran was sitting on his bed; his eyes narrowed as they stepped in and Cat felt tense again, hoping he would at least listen to what they wanted to ask him, without losing his temper.

There was silence for a moment; finally Ned spoke.

"Bran, we'd like to talk to you." He paused, but before he could start again, Bran cut across him.

"My mind's not changed, I'm not betraying Arya."

Cat shook her head. "Bran, we're not here about Arya; we…we need to talk to you, about this girl you are dating."

Bran remained tense and waited; nodding, his eyes still narrowed, clearly still untrusting of their intent.

Ned pondered briefly before explaining.

"Bran, I really don't have a problem with you dating, but you kept it secret, that's enough to raise some suspicions." He explained. "Who is this girl?"

Bran put a finger in his mouth, looking thoughtful, a sign of his nervous habits. Finally he sighed.

"Okay, I'll tell you." He said. "We started dating last year, just after the winter prom. We, we kept it hidden, because of the age gap…" He glared, mostly at his mother. "Mostly since we knew you would react like this, but we were in love, we weren't going to let anything stop that."

Cat sighed; she wanted to believe that Bran was deluding himself; that the girl was indeed using him. But hearing the conviction in his voice made her doubt even that. She looked over at Ned and saw, from his expression that he was having similar thoughts. Bran was nervous; it was clear to him that, while his parents still seemed to having difficulty, coming to terms with his relationship, he might be able to convince his father to take his side.

There was another awkward silence before his father spoke again.

"What's her name, this girl you're dating?"

Bran quickly ran through what he knew about his father's relationship with the Reed's and how well he knew them, before replying.

"You know her dad, it's Meera Reed."

That caught his father's attention. "Meera, Howland's daughter; last time I saw her she was just your age."

To Bran's relief the thought of his second son dating his best friend's oldest daughter seemed to appeal to his father, despite the age gap. After all, he knew the girl, had met her before; knew how responsible and trustworthy she was. His mother still looked worried and noticed her husband's reaction.

"Ned, I…Are you sure about this?"

His father smiled. "Of course Cat; I promise, there's nothing to worry about…We should get to know her better; maybe we could have her around for dinner sometime, with all of us here."

Bran had to bite his tongue as he was tempted to complain that they weren't all here, Jon wasn't, neither was Arya. Thinking of Arya prompted an idea in Bran's head.

"Hey, why don't I bring her along and we can go for that picnic in the woods we've had planned for ages." He suggested.

His father smiled; Bran however felt guilty, after all, it had been Arya's idea in the first place to go on a picnic in the woods.

"You won't have to cook so much then mum." Bran added.

She just nodded; it was like her mind was elsewhere.

Finally dad broke the silence.

"That sounds like a good idea Bran." He stated. "See when Meera is available, we'll tell the others; see if we can find a day when everyone is free. Sounds like a good idea, right Cat?"

"Sure." Mum replied, sounding rather cold.

Bran watched his parents leave; his father seemed to be coming around to the idea of him dating an older woman; that gave him hope he could accept Arya's relationship too. However he still saw no sign of his mother changing her mind. He was more worried about the way his parents were acting to each other though; they had been fighting a lot and it seemed to be getting worse; he was afraid, he didn't know why they were fighting. All he knew was; if the blanket and pillows on the couch in the study were any indication, it was serious. It took a few days of preparation; but soon they organized their day for the picnic; Rickon and Sansa had been enthusiastic and fully intended to bring Shireen and Willas along with them. Robb and Jeyne would be coming too; Bran was nervous about that. He had no idea how Robb would react to the news about him dating an older woman, he knew Robb already knew but, Robb was yet to get in touch with him about it. Bran looked out the window, nervous, tomorrow was the day of the picnic, his one chance to prove to all his family that his and Meera's relationship was real, and good. His mind was on something else however; he had called Arya to tell her what was happening. She simply said she didn't care, but Bran had noted the hurt in her voice and knew she was lying.

Arya sighed; she put down the new prepaid phone she was now using; she had changed her number too, so it would be harder for the police to track her. She had asked Bran not to register the new number under her name, she knew she could trust him and so knew he had followed her instructions. She thought about what he had said; they were going on a picnic so Bran could officially introduce Meera to the family. She remembered it was so long ago when she had initially asked her parents to take them out on a picnic as a whole family. Now, she wasn't sure that would help in the slightest; especially not with her current problem. She felt the stinging in her eyes and wiped the tears away furiously.

'_I shouldn't be crying. I told Bran I didn't care; they can't accept me, so I…' _Despite her efforts the tears still came.

"Arry." She turned, Gendry was standing there, clad in his pyjamas; simple brown pyjama pants with a matching V-necked hooded pyjama top.

She told him about what happened and by the end he was hugging her as the tears spilled from her eyes.

'_Who am I kidding?'_ She thought to herself before admitting. "I miss them…I just, I wish…"

Gendry nodded. "I understand; do you still intend to stay here, until…?"

She nodded and he knew she meant it; he just hoped it wouldn't be too long, for her sake.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	28. Chapter 28

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 28 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, I know.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah; well; like Bran said, he already knew Meera.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, it's pretty bad for a lot of them right now, anyway, here you go :)  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, it's good; exactly. I know, Arya's having a difficult time, but she knew it wouldn't be easy; well, just wait and see what happens :)  
SweetImagination15: Yup, it sure is; yeah, well, just have to wait and see; glad you enjoyed it :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 28**

Bran tried hard to sit still, although he was extremely nervous and felt fidgety. It was the day of the picnic; they had all agreed to meet up at the location; Rickon and Shireen were in the car with his parents while the rest of his siblings rode with their loved ones. It had taken some cajoling but he had convinced his parents to let him ride with Meera. He thought about Arya and how she had lied when he told her about their plans.

'_She can say she doesn't care all she wants; I heard in her voice, she was hurt.'_

He turned to look at Meera; her driving movements were automatic, but her mind looked like it was elsewhere. As it was a nice day out Bran had chosen a comfortable outfit of designer denim jeans, simple sneakers and a black T-shirt with a button-up V-neck. Meera however was wearing something that, for her, was rather formal. A green knee length thin strapped dress and green flats; he got the feeling she was trying to make a good impression with the family; she had once again tied her wild hair back with a bandana.

He watched Meera as she bit her lip nervously, rather like Arya. "You, you really think they'll like me?"

Bran smiled and replied cheerfully. "Of course. My dad remembers you and the others will surely have no problem."

Deep down however he was just as nervous as she was; what he said was mostly true, but he didn't have the heart to mention his mother's reaction.

They finally arrived and got out of the car; his parents were busy setting things up while Rickon and Shireen stood nearby; talking quietly. Rickon was clad in denim jeans; red sneakers, a grey and white striped tank-top with a purple button up shirt over it, although he wore it unbuttoned. Shireen wore a cream, knee length pleated skirt with a white collared sleeveless button-up top, with flower designs and strappy heels. Going by the style of the outfit Bran guessed her mother had picked it out for her. His heart wrenched as he noticed the faint but still visible scar on Shireen's wrist but he knew it was nothing compared to how Rickon must feel whenever he looked at it. They finally got close enough to hear what was being said.

"Yeah, he's finally got himself a girlfriend." Rickon was saying, looking close to laughter. "I couldn't believe it, I thought he was kidding."

Shireen laughed gently. "Really Rickon, that's not nice, he's your brother."

Bran cleared his throat and they both turned and greeted him, he introduced them to Meera as his parents came over. His mother wore a simple white T-shirt and black three-quarter length trousers along with blue sandals and two beaded necklaces. His father meanwhile wore grey jeans and darker grey shoes and seemed to be going for a bit of humour with his shirt choice; a black T-shirt with the family crest in white on it and beneath it the old family motto from the middle ages pairing with a modern joke; 'Keep Calm because Winter is Coming'. Bran didn't know if should laugh or cringe.

Bran smiled as best he could, despite still feeling tense.

"Meera, this is my mum and dad." He introduced them.

Meera managed a smile but Bran could see her nervousness as she shook hands with his parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stark, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise Meera." His father said kindly. "I've not seen Howland in a while, how is he these days?"

Meera smiled and spoke; meanwhile Bran noted his mother observing Meera; no doubt taking in the way she was dressed; her hair, the attempts she was making to at least make a favourable impression. What his mother thought about this however he couldn't tell, her expression was too guarded; they were then distracted by the others arriving. Sansa and Willas showed up first; Sansa was dressed for the weather in denim cut offs, a grey V-necked short sleeved top, purple lightweight scarf, sunglasses and sandals. Willas wore lightweight jeans, a blue button up collared shirt, black waistcoat and brown shoes, formal yet practical, just like all his clothes. Robb and Jeyne also arrived; Robb wore denim jeans and a white collared T-shirt with black stripe designs on the left upper chest area along with simple brown boots. Jeyne's outfit consisted also of denim jeans; along with a pink sleeveless top and brown strappy heels.

The picnic soon began, Bran was nervous the whole time he was eating. However gradually those nerves dissipated. As he watched most of his family slowly came to accept and even like Meera. His father, Rickon and Shireen all showed great kindness and friendliness towards her. Jeyne also had no difficulty befriending Meera, which in turn led to Robb coming to accept her; Willas was polite to her as he was with everything and Sansa, who had initially shared their mother's views, soon found herself liking Meera more and more and gradually befriended her as they ate. Before long only his mother seemed wary, but he noted, not as hostile or suspicious as she had been before; which he took as a good sign. Eventually they finished the food and Bran looked around, his mother was talking with Willas while Sansa, Jeyne, Shireen and Robb all spoke with Meera. He made up his mind and turned to his father.

"Dad…" His father turned to him and he continued. "I was wondering if we could go for a walk. You know, hiking in the woods."

His father smiled and agreed, Rickon volunteered to come along too and so they left the rest of the group and began walking. They had walked in silence, simply taking in the view; they had walked through the woods, climbed a nearby hill and now stood on a plateau, on the plateau three lone trees grew in a triangle formation; from it they could see the picnic bench where their family and loved ones were still sitting talking. It was a long sharp drop from the edge of the precipice however; it seemed the path leading up was the only safe route.

Bran and Rickon shared nervous glances, each one silently asking the other to speak first. They both wanted to approach a delicate subject with their father. He had spoken to Rickon and realized that even he had noticed the arguments, their father sleeping on the study couch. Like him Rickon was scared their parents were going to divorce and such proceedings were imminent. It was Rickon however who finally worked up the courage to speak.

"Dad…"

Ned turned to his youngest son, smiling. "Yes, Rickon?"

Rickon began twisting his hands again before asking. "Are you and mum okay?"

Ned looked confused. "What, of course, why would you ask that?"

"It's just…"

Rickon trailed off; Ned then noticed Bran's expression. "Are you the same Bran?"

Bran nodded.

"Your mother and I are great." He told them, trying to reassure them.

Bran wondered if he should mention the numerous times he'd seen mum crying after Jon left and Arya started rebelling, incidents which occurred more frequently after Arya ran away.

Rickon then worked up the courage to mention something. "The couch…"

Ned froze as he realized they knew about that, he also realized then, exactly what their fears were.

"Your mother and I will work everything out, we always do, there's nothing to worry about."

He said it carefully trying to reassure him; but he didn't like to admit that there were doubts in his mind too.

They had all been so distracted they hadn't noticed the feral animal bearing down on them. By the time they did it was too late; it began attacking Ned, latching onto his leg and savagely clawing at him. Both boys yelled and Bran immediately tried to intervene; this only resulting in the beast turning its attention to him instead. It leapt at him and savagely attacked his legs and chest until Rickon distracted it by throwing rocks. It turned its attention to him; however Rickon was ready for it and had positioned himself carefully. He ducked as it leapt at him and it flew over his head and off the side of the plateau; a steep fatal drop. Rickon hurried over to Bran, who was on his back, bleeding from his wounds. Dad had managed to pull himself up and was alongside Bran, his leg was also bleeding badly.

"Dad…" Rickon cried out, his voice shaking. "We need to get him down from here, get him to hospital."

Ned shook his head. "I can't carry him with my leg, and you're not strong enough Rickon."

Bran coughed and tried to clear his throat; he then got the words out.

"Call Meera…knows the woods…better…just describe…the place."

Ned nodded and took Bran's phone, dialling the number.

Meera smiled as she sat listening to Robb and Jeyne tell her about their college experiences. She had found the picnic enjoyable; despite her nerves. The family had quickly come around to accept her; although she realizes Bran's mother was still not happy about their relationship. Just then her phone rang, she picked it up.

"It's Bran." She explained, answering their looks before accepting the call. "Hey Bran…"

She was cut off however when the person at the other end spoke.

"Meera, it's Bran's father; we were attacked by a wild animal; Bran's badly hurt and we can't get him down. He told me to call you, that you knew the area."

She froze, fear gripped her heart. "Of course, where are you?"

Her panic must've shown for all eyes were now on her and they looked worried. She listened as Bran's father explained, the moment she heard about the three trees forming a triangle she knew exactly where they were.

"I know the place, I'll be right there…I also know a shortcut."

She hung up and turned to the others. "They were attacked; Bran's badly hurt, I need to go and help him, call an ambulance."

"I'll come with you." Robb offered.

Meera shook her head. "I know this place like I know my own home; I'll be quicker by myself. Just tell the ambulance crew, when they arrive, to go to the cabin, just over there."

She pointed it out and, as Robb pulled his phone out she hurried off to the plateau.

True to her word she didn't take long; by the time she arrived her dress was ripped in several places, but she didn't care about that. She hurried over to Bran; she winced when she saw his wounds and then looked over at Rickon and Ned.

"Can you walk?" She asked Ned.

He grimaced. "With some help, yes."

Meera nodded. "Rickon, support your father and follow me, I've already told the others where we're going and to pass it on to the ambulance crew."

With that she picked up Bran and Rickon support his father as they headed down and soon reached the cabin. It was an old forest rangers cabin which was surprisingly still stocked with supplies. Meera immediately set Bran down on the bed and got to work, providing emergency first aid. As she worked she glanced back at Ned's leg, then pulled her bandana off and handed it to Rickon.

"Wrap that around your father's leg." She told him.

Rickon got to work, trying hard not to think of the last time he had to do something like this; when Shireen cut her wrist. The others soon arrived, Catelyn was panicked; while Robb kept an eye out for the ambulance, everybody watched as Meera worked to try and ease the severity of Bran's wounds. Some time later the ambulance crews finally arrived and they all rushed to hospital; Meera could only pray that she had done enough; pray that she had got there in time.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	29. Chapter 29

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 29 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, here you go.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah; it was pretty sad; glad you liked the comparison; yeah, everybody's slowly coming around to accept Meera.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah; bad luck for him; read on to find out how he fares. Glad you liked Ned's T-shirt.  
SweetImagination15: Yeah, it's pretty bad, well, read on to find out the outcome.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 29**

Catelyn felt terrible; she had been frantic ever since Ned made that phone call to Meera. She had been shocked by the news and watched fearfully as Meera had rushed off into the woods to save them. She had watched in the cabin as Meera had performed emergency first aid and, judging from the doctors comments; that had saved Bran's life. They also mentioned something had terrified Cat; due to the extent of his injuries, Bran might lose the use of his legs, but Meera's emergency first aid had been quick enough to prevent that too. Although Bran would bear terrible scars on his chest and legs he would make a full recovery. They were currently sitting in Bran's room, he was still unconscious due to blood loss; she sat in a chair next to the bed, holding his hand. It had taken some reassurance that everything would be okay from Rickon, Sansa and Robb but Shireen, Willas and Jeyne had eventually accepted that fact and returned home, promising to call later and see how things were doing. Apart from Ned who was getting his injured leg seen to, everybody else was sitting around the room. Meera stood behind Catelyn's chair; shifting her weight from foot to foot. She had changed out of her dress; which had ended up stained with Bran's blood, into simple jeans and a tank-top. They all waited for Bran to wake up.

The tension hung thick in the air; Meera felt like she should say something, but no words came.

'_Mrs Stark only cared about her son's well-being; his safety. I just wish there was something I could say to reassure her, to help her.'_ She thought quietly to herself.

However it was Catelyn who broke the silence; she looked at Meera and everything the young woman had done for her son rushed through her head. She managed a small smile.

"Thank you Meera." She said softly. "For saving my son's life."

Meera smiled back and nodded. "I know it's weird, I'm seven years older than your son. I thought so too at first, I said no when he first asked me…But then I got to know him better; he…he's more mature than most boys my age; very responsible and…I love him."

Catelyn nodded sadly; she knew Meera was telling the truth. She looked at the others; knowing they had already accepted Meera and saw them all smiling.

'_I was wrong about her; she isn't using Bran at all.'_ Cat realized. _'She does truly love him…Maybe, maybe Arya's boyfriend…'_

She lowered her head and then sighed.

"I understand Meera, thank you."

Meera nodded; just then the door opened and Ned came in on crutches. He was holding Bran's phone and shaking his head.

"Unbelievable." He muttered.

"Catelyn bit her lip, unable to look at her husband right now without breaking down. The strain was getting too much, she wasn't sure how much more she could take before she said something she really regretted.

Luckily however the children didn't notice, they were confused by their father's words.

"What happened?" Robb asked

"Your sister called bran…" Ned explained. "I answered the phone, but the moment she heard my voice she hung up, without even giving me a chance to explain or anything."

Catelyn froze when she heard that, it struck home just how far away now Arya had become.

'_Arya... oh... gods... my baby girl... she hates me, hates all of us.'_

She felt like her mind was about to blow, she needed to get out of the room. She let go of Bran's hand and stood up

"Meera, could you sit with him." She said softly; Meera looked at her, surprised.

"Mrs Stark...?"

"I…I just need fresh air." She said before then adding. "Oh, and my last name is Tully-Stark"

With that she walked away, all the kids looked shocked by what she said; she never bothered to correct anyone who called her Mrs. Stark. Sansa was about to follow her but that stopped her. Cat found herself alone again, feeling like her life is falling all around her and she can just stand by and watch... she sank onto the bench outside the hospital and broke down; the tears fell and she did nothing to stop them. She just wanted this to be a nightmare, for it to wake up and everything would be okay. She'd even be happy to have Jon back, despite the guilt she always felt around him.

Back in the hospital room Bran slowly opened his eyes as consciousness returned to him. He smiled when he saw Meera sitting next to him, holding his hand. She smiled back; however her voice wasn't the first one he heard.

"Bran? Guys, he's waking up." It was Sansa.

He looked around and smiled when he saw his family. His dad was there, he had crutches but was alive; Robb was sitting between dad and Meera, on the other side of the bed Sansa and Rickon sat. His smile dropped however when he noticed somebody was missing; he couldn't see his mother anywhere.

'_Did she get hurt too; after I blacked out?'_ He wondered fretfully.

He worked his mouth; his throat was rather dry; soon he managed to speak.

"Mum…?" He asked; his concern clear in his voice.

They all looked at each other before Meera spoke.

"She should be back soon." She said; although Bran noticed it sounded more like she was convincing the others and not just him.

"Okay." He said finally. "What happened?"

"Do you remember anything?" Rickon asked.

"Just that beast attacking dad then me, after that, nothing."

Rickon nodded slowly and then explained. "Meera found us; saved our lives; you especially. The doctors said if not for the emergency first aid she performed at the scene, you would've lost the use of your legs, or even died."

Bran gulped at that, not realized how close he had come to death. Yet it had been his girlfriend who saved him. He turned to her, smiling.

"Thank you." He whispered before kissing her.

The others politely averted their eyes as they did so, when they parted they smiled at each other.

It was then Bran realized that his mother had returned to the room, he also noticed that she didn't seem to mind the kiss. However she still looked uncomfortable.

"Cat…" Dad began; trying to stand up.

Mum shook her head however and sat down in the nearest seat; next to the door. She managed a small smile as she spoke.

"I'm glad you're okay Bran."

"Mum." He replied, nodding and smiling back.

His mother then turned her gaze to Meera. "Thank you for taking care of him Meera."

He knew then that his mother had accepted his relationship with Meera. Some time later there was more activity as Bran was adamant he was well enough to go home, not wanting to stay in the hospital overnight. He had seen the scars he had been left with, but considered them light compared to what could have been. Eventually Bran's cajoling won the day and he was released from the hospital; Meera had to return home so she quickly kissed Bran, said goodbye to the others and headed to her car. The rest of the family got to their car and began the drive home. The whole ride Catelyn was silent; her mind was just too full; she reflected on her failures.

'_I'm such a terrible mother; a terrible wife; Gods if Lysa saw me now…'_ Her thoughts ran unchecked as she came to a horrible conclusion. _'She was right, she was right all along about me; I would never be a mother to Stark children.'_

The thoughts continued to plague her the whole ride home.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it. Well, Catelyn's having some difficulties now, who is it she's referring too? All I will say is, it's not Lysa, but who then? Anyway, read and review please :)


	30. Chapter 30

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 30 of my Game of Thrones story; enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, well, we're going to learn more about Cat's issues in this chapter and also who she was talking about that chapter.  
Veridissima: Yeah; she's not doing to good right now but yes; she's finally accepted Meera; glad you enjoyed it.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.  
SweetImagination15: Yeah he is, yup, her quick actions really saved him :) She is, well, we'll learn more in this chapter.  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, she's close to breaking, but it's not just the issues with Arya. Bran's fine actually, he's made a full recovery, the scars are all that's left of the incident; well, actually you were right, it's all the stress he's dealing with which was why he reacted the way he did.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 30**

They pulled up the driveway; finally home. As they got out of the car Bran winced slightly; Cat tensed.

"Bran?"

He shook his head. "It's fine, I'm okay."

He was trying to reassure her; she realized that. She wished he hadn't been so determined to come home, but he definitely looked better than he had when Meera had brought him to the cabin. He still felt minor discomfort from time to time, but otherwise he seemed to have recovered. They headed inside; Cat noticed the time.

"I better get dinner started." She stated.

The family noticed how distant her voice sounded; but none of them had any idea what to say. The kids all turned to look at their father. Ned sighed and shook his head as Robb finally spoke.

"Dad, what's going on, what are we going to do?"

Ned replied as calmly as he could. "I don't know exactly, but I have a good idea…Listen, don't worry, I'm going to take care of this. I thought…I made the mistake of thinking things weren't that bad, that we could sort this out easily…But I see now that was wrong."

The kids all shared a look; Bran looked away as Rickon spoke up.

"Are you mum getting divorced?" He asked.

The others tensed as Ned sighed.

"Not if I can help it." He replied. "I'll talk to her tonight and try and get to the bottom of this; hopefully, we'll figure out what's wrong and fix this."

It was then Cat came out of the kitchen, announced dinner was ready and that she wasn't hungry before retreating to the bedroom.

In the bedroom Cat changed into her nightgown and lay on the bed. She tried to sleep; she hadn't been able to sleep more than just a few scattered minutes during the nights for weeks. She's tracing the face of Arya on her bedside picture of Ned and her children, when she hears the knock at the door and it opens.

"I brought dinner." Ned said.

"I'm not hungry." She replied; but she doesn't hear him leave, he just closes the door and told her.

"The kids are in their rooms."

"Okay." She doesn't turn to him.

There was silence for some time before Ned sighed and she heard him sit down on the bed. She tensed, waiting for the argument to begin.

Surprisingly when he spoke however, there was no tension in his voice. "Cat... Catelyn... today, before the accident, the kids asked me if we were getting divorced, I said no, of course not. But I'm not so sure..."

However only a few words fully registered with her and she cut across him. "Okay... if you think that's for the best... I'll sign the papers, just send them to Edmure's, I can leave in the morning"

Despite saying the words she felt weak. It was breaking her heart at the same time, losing the love of her life.

She felt the rapid movement as Ned stood up.

"For Gods' sake, Catelyn!" His voice was loud but not angry, he sounded…desperate. "I don't want a divorce; I want you to talk to me."

"About what?" She asked; fearful.

"About what's wrong." His voice was soft; she felt like crying, she couldn't tell him, it would hurt him.

So she simply said. "You wouldn't understand."

"Why not?!"

'_Does he really have to ask, can he not see it?' _She thought to herself sadly; before finally sitting up and glaring as she told him.

"Because everyone loves you, because you're the hero in everyone's eyes, and I'm the cold blooded bitch!" she yelled at him, her eyes filling with tears as her pain burst forth. She trembled as she whispered. "She was right all along."

Ned was stunned; how could he have been so blind not to see this. The pain his wife had been feeling; everything had been falling apart in his children's lives, now he realized the same was happening to his wife. But what she said disturbed him, especially since he knew it wasn't true.

"Nobody hates you." He said gently trying to reassure her.

She looked at him, tears streaking her face. "Arya said it loud and clear."

Ned shook his head. "She was being irrational, due to anger and grief. She was blaming for something she shouldn't."

He was certain that; no matter what she said or how she acted, Arya loved her mother and simply wanted her mother to understand and accept her.

Catelyn shook her head however, not convinced.

"Every one of you blamed me for Jon leaving, that's what got him killed. She was actually the only one who had guts to say it. You hate me, so does Robb, Sansa, Bran even Rickon."

Ned shook his head and told her. "The first thing Bran asked when he woke up was for you." She ignored what he said however as fresh tears fell.

"I couldn't even keep my children safe and teach them well. Rickon cheated on his girlfriend, the poor girl almost killed herself; how can we be sure he won't do it again." She bit her lip as she remembered how hurt she had been after finding out about Brandon. He had cheated on her at least twice.

She shook her head and continued. "Sansa was beaten and I did nothing, Bran almost died and Arya is somewhere, we don't even know…I couldn't stop her from becoming sullen, dark and…and angry."

"I couldn't either." Ned reminded her.

"But she warned me I couldn't do it." Cat blurted out before realizing what she said.

"Who?" He asked stepping closer to her. "Arya?"

She shook her head. "No one."

"Just tell me."

"No." She whispered. _'I can't hurt you like that.'_

Ned merely looked at her, silent; finally Cat gave in and told him.

"Lyanna."

The silence that followed was the longest Cat had ever felt.

Finally Ned found his voice.

"What?!" The only thing ned knew about his wife and sister was how they fought the night the later died, Cat never told him how - just that she felt guilty when she looked at Jon. He sat down again, this time next to her. "Tell me what happened that night."

"No... You'd definitely hate me."

"None of that now, I'm not…I could never hate you." He told her softly and kissed her, she melts into him and when they part she takes a shaky breath.

"It's all my fault she died Ned. That night…it wasn't our first fight, but it was the first time I fought back." She paused to compose herself and continued. "It began when we started dating; she started yelling at me because I was with you so quickly after Brandon's death."

Ned frowned; it had been almost a year after that before they started dating.

"She called me a whore, and that I would never deserve you. She never stopped believing I was a whore, even when we got married and I got pregnant with Robb." She let out a shuddering breath. "She told me she believed it wasn't yours, that I would never be able to raise a Stark child."

She gave a short mirthless laugh. "I guess I proved her right."

Ned shook his head however. "No, you didn't. You're raising five amazing kids."

He was shocked his sister had ever said that, but he knew Lya had blamed the death of her favourite brother on Catelyn. He kissed the top of her head, trying to comfort her.

Catelyn trembled and then admitted.

"That last night, our last fight…I was so tired of the insults, after everything she said, I just…I screamed 'If I'm a slut, so are you'. Given…given how Jon was born…She got so angry and ran out of the door, getting in the car in that state…"

Cat burst into tears again; while she had been engaged to Robert Baratheon, Lyanna had fallen for Robert's main rival Rhaegar Targaryen; their one night stand had resulted in Jon's birth. That night, Lyanna had planned on ending her engagement to Robert and starting a new relationship with Rhaegar.

"It was not your fault." Ned whispered gently; surprising her.

She looked up and saw the sadness in his eyes, yet also the compassion and gentle understanding.

"Lya was the one who was driving; you can't be responsible for her actions, even if you hadn't yelled back, she still would've been angry…It would've happened anyway Cat, there's nothing you could've done. He sighed and then whispered gently.

"You're not a slut and neither was Lya…You were both wrong, but this doesn't have to eat up your whole life Cat."

She nodded slowly as she calmed down.

Finally she asked "Are you mad?"

"No, why didn't you tell me earlier?" He replied softly.

"I thought you wouldn't believe me."

"I will always believe you Cat; I know you wouldn't lie to me."

He then kissed her and then held her until she's finally able to fall asleep, and finally, for the first time in weeks; she sleeps peacefully and for the whole night.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	31. Chapter 31

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 31 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Okay, cool, thanks, glad you liked it. Yeah, well, she'll feel better now.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, it was pretty sad and Cat had been carrying it around for a long time; but she should be better now.  
zJordan: Welcome back, glad you enjoyed it :)  
SweetImagination15: Yup, she's finally opened up and things should be okay between them now, glad you enjoyed it.  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah well, she was pretty angry and people say a lot of bad things when they are angry. Hmmm, yeah, you may have a point, oh, such as? Well, read on to find out.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 31**

When Cat woke up she felt refreshed; lighter. The burden she had borne for twenty years felt like it had been lifted. She slowly opened her eyes and realized she was now lying in bed and Ned was with her; holding her while she did the same with him. She let out a slow, relaxed breath; it had been months since they had done this. Lay together; holding each other, she had almost forgotten the feeling; the solid gentle comfort. It was then Ned woke up and smiled.

"Morning, how did you sleep?" He asked.

She smiled back. "Better than I have in a long time."

Ned nodded and kissed her forehead.

She was quiet for a moment and then spoke. "I'm glad we talked everything out last night Ned; I…I just wish we'd done it sooner."

"Yes; as am I Cat." He replied.

They were then interrupted by a knock at the door; they quickly sat up as Robb poked his head in, smiling.

"I just came to check on you." He said. "Are you planning on sleeping the day away, it's almost noon."

"You're mother needed the sleep Robb." Ned informed him.

Robb nodded. "Yeah; oh dad, your office called, they need you to come in this afternoon."

Ned sighed.

"Okay, well, we better get up anyway."

Cat agreed and, as Robb left they got up and got dressed before leaving their room. Cat kissed Ned before he left for work and headed through to the kitchen, preparing a late breakfast for herself.

As she ate she spoke to Robb and learned where the others were at this moment. There was a pause before Robb spoke, his expression serious.

"Mum, I um…did you and dad manage to sort everything out?"

She nodded. "Yes; we did; everything, everything's fine now."

Cat had never felt so relieved, this time, when she said those words, she meant them, they were true. There would obviously be some issues that still needed to be worked out, but she knew at least that things between her and Ned were a lot better now.

"I hope we never go through something like that again." She said softly. "All this time, I've felt like a terrible wife and mother."

Robb shook his head. "That's not true, it never was. Think about it mum, if it wasn't for you…I would never have been able to properly settle things with Walder. Jeyne and I would still be having problems with him to this day."

She smiled at that. "I suppose; how is Jeyne?"

"Never better, I just spoke to her; she's relieved Bran's okay."

Cat smiled wider at that. "She's a great girl Robb; hold onto to her, okay."

"Of course." He replied cheerfully.

Robb left the room while Cat pondered; she had thought long and hard and felt she needed to talk to her children. She strongly felt she needed to apologize to Sansa and Bran; she also needed to talk to Rickon about what he had done, at least to make sure everything would be alright from now on. She made up her mind and headed upstairs.

Catelyn sighed as she thought about that incident; she remembered her horror on learning Rickon had cheated on Shireen. Yet he had been genuinely sorry and Shireen, being the sweet girl she was, had reconciled with him and taken him back. She knew Ned had already spoken to Rickon, explaining how cheating was wrong, yet she wanted to talk to him too, to make sure. She knocked on his bedroom door, she entered and found him sitting at the desk in his room, working on the homework he had been given to do over the summer. She was not surprised he had left it this long; Rickon was like Arya when it came to homework.

"Mum, what's going on?" He asked; smiling.

He clearly noticed the difference in her now and guessed what had happened.

"I wanted to talk to you…" She informed him. "…About what happened with Shireen."

Rickon swallowed; he knew exactly what she meant. "Mum…"

She raised a hand and explained, not wanting him to misunderstand.

"I know your dad already spoke to you; but I wanted to do so too."

Rickon nodded and sat waiting, knowing he couldn't run from this.

Catelyn gathered her thoughts before speaking up. "You're not obligated to be with Shireen if you don't want to, but you can't lead her on or cheat on her. It's not right and I assure you, you will be punished severely if you do it again."

"Yes ma'am." Rickon replied; he actually liked the feeling, seeing her mother being so protective of his girlfriend.

Rickon straightened up; he felt the need to explain to his mother; to tell her exactly how he felt about Shireen.

"Mum, I really love her, I was stupid and immature and…The thought of losing her, especially after i saw..., I just can't mum."

He paused and then took a deep breath and continued. "She means the world to me."

Catelyn looks at him, trying to evaluate if it's true. She saw the seriously and sincerity in his eyes.

"I love her, mum. I never want to hurt her again."

Catelyn finally believed she could trust her son; his words were sincere.

"I trust you, Rickon. Don't break that trust and most importantly don't break Shireen's heart - she's a sweet girl."

She ruffles her son's hair, kissed the top of his head and left the room. Satisfied she walked over to Sansa's room and knocked on the door.

"Yes?"

"It's me Sansa." She said.

"Oh, come in mum."

She entered, Sansa was sitting on her bed; she put down the book she had been reading. Catelyn sat down and proceeded straight to the point.

"Sansa, I'm so sorry, i did nothing about Joffrey."

Sansa shook her head. "Mum... you don't need to..."

Catelyn quickly explained. "Of course I need to. I'm your mother I should have known."

Sansa sighed and began twisting a lock of hair around her finger.

Sansa moved closer; sitting next to her mother.

"You couldn't, mum. I lied; I kept telling you I was okay. I'm sorry I lied."

The last part came out as a whisper; Catelyn sighed; her eldest daughter still felt bad for lying for so long.

"Come here, sweetie." She said softly, opening her arms. Sansa moved closer and relaxes in the comfort of her mother's arms.

"Thank you, mum."

"Of course, sweetie." She said soothingly. "I want you to trust me and come to me when you have any problem, okay?"

"Yes."

Catelyn then added. "Especially, anything like this."

Sansa smiled and nodded. "Of course. But Willas would never..."

"I understand, just remember, no matter what, you can talk to me."

Sansa nods; and they stay like that for a while before they finally let go and Catelyn heads downstairs. She headed through to the living room; Bran was there, watching TV. She was relieved to see he had no visible signs of discomfort. Unlike Rickon Bran had finished his summer homework long ago and had all summer free now. Bran looked up and smiled when he saw his mother.

"Hey mum, Robb told me you and dad sorted everything out." He said; she noticed he still sounded worried.

She nodded. "Yes; it's true Bran, we'll be fine now."

He relaxed and Cat decided it was time.

"I want to apologize Bran, about Meera." She told him; she let out a breath then continued. "I should've known; you're old enough and smart enough to know who to trust…who to love."

Bran smiled. "Thanks mum."

Catelyn nodded. "I'm really sorry."

Bran stood up and hugged his mother and told her it was okay; much to her relief.

After lunch Catelyn was waiting for Ned to come home; she was thinking constantly about Arya. She desperately wanted to fix things with her little girl.

'_No, Arya's not a little girl anymore.'_ Catelyn told herself. _'That was my mistake, I kept seeing her as a little girl; if…if this man she's dating is good to her…I can accept it, I just need to talk to her, to convince her.'_

She felt she had only one choice. Despite not daring to do so before hand; her fears and concerns for Arya overrode everything else. She entered her daughter's room; nothing had been disturbed since she had discovered Arya had gone missing; that meant the dust was thick on many things. Catelyn looked around, trying to find anything that could give her a clue to Arya's whereabouts. It was then she found something under the bed; it was a black notebook. Catelyn picked it up and scanned through it and realized what it was; her daughter's diary, she had no idea Arya even kept a diary.

'_It doesn't look like she wrote in it every day…But more so after Jon left.'_

The more she read the more she felt her heart clench. In it Arya bared her soul, spoke of her pain and sadness, how the teachers and people at school always compared her unfavourably to Sansa, how she felt her mother didn't love or understand her.

'_That's not true Arya…I may not understand you, but I love you just as much as the others.'_

In this diary she found answers to many things; Arya's reasons for cutting and dyeing her hair and how things got worse for her after Jon left.

She then found the part she wrote about the young man she was dating; she paused, uncertain she wanted to read further when she saw the first words on the entry; 'I'm no longer a virgin'. Her daughter had lain with that man; the more Cat read however, especially the later entries, the more she realized the truth; the more she realized this man, Gendry, was good to and good for Arya. She continued to read and when she reached the last entry her heart wrenched again; it had been written on the night she and Arya had their last fight. It simply read 'Goodbye.'

'_Arya; she…she felt her diary would be found. She…she's was hoping…'_

She made up her mind; she knew what to do, she had to fix things with Arya, she had to get her daughter back; even if Bran couldn't convince her, she could go herself. She knew now where the young man lived, where Arya was; they were down in King's Landing. She waited until Ned came home and explained what she had found, showed him Arya's diary and soon they reached an agreement. So after dinner; after everyone else had headed upstairs, they asked Bran to come to the living room with them. He did so, curious, wondering why they called him here.

He was surprised when his parents asked him to call Arya, that they needed to talk to her to make things right. Bran makes them promise they won't make her break up with her boyfriend, if they did that, he knew she would never forgive them.

"No Bran, we just need our daughter back." Her father told him.

He saw they were serious and he makes up his mind; he dials the phone number and waits for her to answer, takes a while but then he hears a man's voice.

"Hello?"

"Hi?" He said, confused. "I wanted to speak with Arya."

"Who are you?"

Bran frowned. "I could ask the same."

"I'm her boyfriend." The man replied; it was then Bran realized he was talking with Gendry.

"I'm her brother." He explained.

He heard Gendry make some kind of noise of confirmation. "Bran, right, I thought she was there with you."

Something in the way he said that made Bran's blood run cold.

He tried to stay calm as he responded. "What? She told me she was living with you."

He can see his parents start to freak out at his reaction.

"She was." Gendry confirmed, but then added. "But she didn't come home from work yesterday. I was worried but then I assumed she just went home to try to fix everything."

It was then Bran realized the horrific truth.

"What?! She's not here, she's missing."

There was a shocked silence after he said that.

Finally the silence was broken.

"Bran, what's happened?" His mother asked.

He turned to them. "Quickly, talk to Robb, Sansa, Rickon…see if they have seen her."

Bran then spoke into the phone again. "Gendry, right..."

"Yes."

"Does she have any other friends around there?" He asked.

Gendry confirms. "Just Hot Pie, but she's not with him."

"We're calling people, and the police." He told him. "Check through her things, see if you can find where she was last."

"Okay." He agreed. "Call me soon."

"You too, bye."

He hung up, staring at his parents in shock. He couldn't believe it - they had lost his sister, and mum was almost having a panic attack while dad tried to calm her.

* * *

End of chapter, a peaceful hopeful family reconciliation, brought down by another dramatic turn of events, hope you enjoyed it. Read and review please.


	32. Chapter 32

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 32 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, it was nice, but now there are problems, after all, Arya's gone missing.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well, you're about to find out.  
SweetImagination15: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well, you'll soon get your answer.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 32**

Arya's head felt like it was swimming; she remembered walking through the parking lot from work when suddenly she had been grabbed and something sweet smelling had been clamped over her mouth and nose. She had blacked out and now felt herself waking up; immediately however she knew something was wrong. Her eyes' shot open and her fear mounted; she was in a dingy room that looked familiar. She was lying on a bed, her hands and feet had been bound to the frame with handcuffs; she tried to scream only to discover her mouth had been taped shut. It was then she realized, to her horror, she was only in her black panties and red bra. The rest of her clothes, a green long sleeved cardigan, black skinny jeans, grey top with black sleeves and blue hi-tops, were gone. She immediately tugged at her bonds and screamed against the tape gagging her.

'_What is going on?' _She thought frantically. _'Who did this to me, what's happened, I can't…'_

She froze as the door opened and she froze.

'_Him, that creep!'_

It was Ramsay Bolton; he was smirking as he walked right up to the bed.

"Arya, finally you're mine." He said darkly. "I can hardly wait; you should've been mine, a long time ago."

Arya realized then that, the horrific feeling she had for a long time, of being stalked, was due to him. He had been stalking her and had now kidnapped her.

She refused to be intimidated and growled through the tape. Ramsay merely laughed and suddenly ripped her bra and panties off as he straddled her on the bed.

"I'm tired of waiting for you to come to your sense; so I'm just going to take what's mine and then you'll see how perfect it is." He remarked gleefully. "Now, spread your legs."

Arya glared daggers at him and tightly clenched her thighs together; he would not do this to her. He glared and suddenly slapped her.

"Spread your legs or I'll spread them for you slut!" He bellowed.

She still refused; he slapped her several times and then grabbed her breasts. She screamed as he suddenly grabbed and violently twisted her nipples. She always tried to stay strong, but even she had limits; the pain was too much, so her legs opened and Ramsay smirked as he undressed. Arya closed her eyes, not wanting to watch what was about to happen to her. It didn't stop her feeling the pain as he raped her; suddenly he growled.

"What the fuck, you already gave yourself to someone else?!"

She realized then that Ramsay had just discovered she wasn't a virgin. His response was to use his belt to spank her breasts as he continued raping her. She waited for the pain to stop, it was the only indication she had that he had finished raping her.

"You'll pay for being disloyal to me you bitch." He snarled. "Let's see how you like this."

Then taking things even further, he turned her over on the bed, twisting the cuffs and hurting her and causing more pain. Then she screamed again as he began pressing a lit cigarette into her skin, while at the same time brutally sodomizing her.

In the Stark mansion, the mood was tense; the entire family had gathered and had given what details they knew to the police. They had been waiting for hours; the officer with them was keeping them in the loop with the police who were also in liaison with the King's Landing police. Cat was frantic and Ned was doing her best to calm her. Robb was pacing the living room restlessly while Sansa sat next to her parents, trying desperately to stay calm; helping her father comfort her mother. Bran sat listlessly on the other couch, staring at his phone, praying for some miracle, for Arya to somehow call, or to hear from Gendry again. Rickon was sitting next to him, trembling and trying to stay calm. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. This startled them, but then Robb went to answer it; they heard hushed speech and then Robb came back through; followed by a tall muscular young black haired man with blue eyes. Catelyn recognized him from the time she had seen him and Arya, it was Gendry. She stood up and walked over to him.

"What happened the last time you saw Arya?" She asked quickly. "Please, anything might help…"

Gendry raised his hands. "I know, I know. I just…spoke with her; she'd been talking about calling, trying to fix things between all of you. That's why I thought…"

Gendry was cut off by the officer approaching.

"Gendry Waters?" Gendry nodded. "You are Arya Stark's boyfriend?"

Again Gendry nodded and the officer indicated for him to sit down.

"My colleagues want me to verify something." The officer stated, showing Gendry a sheet of paper. "These are copies of text messages you recently received, you recognize them."

Gendry nodded; he recognized them; they all said the same thing, they claimed to be from Arya, saying she was breaking up with him.

Gendry looked up at the officer.

"What exactly are you asking me?"

The officer cleared his throat and sighed. "We want to verify that these…didn't trigger anything; anything that made you…"

Gendry started. "Hold on, you think I had something to do with this?"

"We're checking _all_ potential suspects. Perhaps you didn't want her to leave you…"

"I didn't do this." Gendry replied; remarkably calm. "I can prove it; these messages didn't even come from Arya."

The officer sighed. "They came from her phone, she…"

"Arya didn't send these." Catelyn said suddenly. "Look, we can prove it."

She quickly spoke to the family and Gendry and they all showed their phones and messages from Arya. Completely unlike the messages that claimed Arya was breaking up with Gendry, the officer noticed that all of Arya's texts were typed completely in lowercase; compared to the proper grammar of the 'break-up texts'. The officer frowned and pondered.

"So, either someone else is using her phone, or she was forced to send them under duress and changed her usual method to warn you…" He sighed. "But then that would mean…"

"She's been kidnapped!" Cat gasped.

The officer shook his head. "My apologies Mr. Waters, merely a routine inquiry, to verify your innocence. We cannot rule it out Mrs. Stark, but we don't have any proof yet."

It was then there was another knock at the door, the officer smiled.

"You certainly are a popular family today."

Robb once again went to answer the door.

They heard the door open and then silence, a few minutes passed before Robb came back in, white as a sheet. The family soon saw why when they saw who followed him in. The first figure they saw was a young woman, in her twenties with fiery red hair and brown eyes; she was dressed in a military uniform. With her, also in military uniform and very much alive, was Jon Snow. They all sat stunned, until finally Ned recovered.

"Jon…You, you're alive." He gasped.

Jon smiled. "Yes; I…This is gonna be a long story…" He stopped when he saw the looks in their eyes and the officer. "…And it looks like something bad is happening."

Ned nodded. "Arya's gone missing; we're still trying to figure out what happened."

Jon's face went blank. "Arya…"

Ned nodded; however at that point the rest of the family recovered and Bran and Rickon ran up and hugged their cousin. Even Sansa joined in the reunion; finally Catelyn stepped up.

"Jon, I…"

He smiled and held out his hand, but to his surprise she also hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're alive, but how…?"

Jon stepped back. "That'll take a while…And what about Arya?"

There was silence for a while, as they considered what to say. Finally the officer shook his head.

"There's nothing more we can do, until we hear from the police in King's Landing. Might as well talk while you can."

With that the family headed through to the kitchen.

After sitting down the family quickly brought Jon up to speed with everything that happened to the family since he left; they also introduced Gendry. Jon also introduced his female companion as Ygritte and explained that it was thanks to her he survived. Together they began to tell their story. Jon had been chosen for a special and dangerous mission; he was to make contact with an undercover operative behind enemy lines to gather intelligence. That operative turned out to be Ygritte; over the months they worked together they had also developed an interest in each other, gradually leading to a relationship. Then, things went wrong; they were discovered and attacked by the enemy. In the end Jon was badly injured and comatose. Ygritte had saved him and managed to get him somewhere safe, uncertain who would find the bodies first she had left Jon's family jewellery with one of the corpses just after the bombing and spent the last several months treating Jon's injuries and helping him recover when he woke up. They had only recently been able to make it back to their barracks and were given compassionate leave, they returned immediately to Winterfell with the intention of surprising the family. Only to run into the situation that was currently occurring. It was then the officer came through, the look on his face only confirmed their worst fears, even before he said anything.

"That was my colleagues in King's Landing…They believe now we're…we're dealing with a kidnapping."

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	33. Chapter 33

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 33 of my Game of Thrones story.

**Reviews**

**Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, it's bad for her. But yeah Jon's alive.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yup, Jon's alive and yes, Arya's in real trouble.  
SweetImagination15: Yeah; it certainly his, well, it won't get any better yet. Yup, Jon is alive :)  
rubini25: Yeah, things are getting pretty intense; well, read on and find out about a certain problem with that, he wasn't worried because Arya always leaves her phone at the apartment, Ramsay is using her pre-paid phone, which Gendry knows the number of; hence why he wasn't suspicious until he noticed the way the texts were written.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 33**

Gendry sighed as he sat at the kitchen table in the Stark family mansion. He felt terrible, it had been two days since he arrived; they were still searching for Arya. They were also waiting for evidence from the scene to be processed and for results from that. All the waiting however made him edgy, somewhere out there Arya was in trouble, he felt it but couldn't do anything about it. He hadn't slept at all and tirelessly drove around Winterfell and King's Landing with her father, cousin and brothers, looking at places she usually frequented, looking for some kind of clue. He had also noticed and was feeling unnerved with the way the Stark's looked at him now. It was different, they had regarded him initially with slight hostility yet mostly curiosity; he was after all the one who had sort of 'stole' the family's baby girl. Yet now he didn't see any suspicion; he wondered briefly if he had somehow gained their trust, and if so, how had he done it.

"Gendry."

He turned in his seat and saw Jon and his girlfriend Ygritte standing there. Ygritte smirked and shook her head.

"You look like three day old road kill." She remarked.

Gendry grimaced, noting she was probably right, having gone so long without sleep he wasn't surprised. Jon merely rolled his eyes and sat down opposite him while Ygritte began making breakfast for herself, muttering about having real food at last, after having to put up with military rations for so long.

There was silence for a moment then Jon spoke.

"You actually look confused about something." He stated.

Gendry nodded. "That obvious huh? I'm just wondering…"

He sighed and then explained to Jon about the family and their reactions and how things had changed. Jon nodded as he listened and then smiled.

"You're right actually, they have come to accept you. It's all because of your actions." Jon explained.

Gendry looked confused, which prompted Ygritte to speak up again.

"Gods you're dense. Not many guys, even if they wanted too, would have the willpower to go without sleep for so long just to search for their girlfriend." She paused and then added. "They can see how devoted you are; how much she means to you; I'm guessing something's already convinced them she feels the same about you."

Gendry nodded slowly, a spark of hope spread through him, if Arya's family were beginning to accept him and his relationship with Arya, well, it was one less thing to worry about. Better still, if, no when they found Arya, they would no longer have to hide.

He smiled at them both. "I guess that makes sense, thanks you guys."

They both smiled and nodded; just then the rest of the family came in and Eddard entered last and spoke quickly.

"Just heard from the police, they've verified who kidnapped Arya…It's Ramsay Bolton."

Catelyn gasped. "Ramsay Bolton, Roose's son; but how, why would he…?"

"Wait." Rickon butted in suddenly. "Remember what Arya said after the dinner party, how he kept groping her."

They knew then what they were going to do, they were going to join the police and go to the Bolton house to get some answers.

Soon the police knocked on the door to the Bolton house. Roose answered it and looked at the police and the Stark family on his doorstep with only mild interest.

"Eddard, what is all this?" He asked; his voice unnervingly calm as usual.

The senior officer however was the one to reply. "Best we discuss this inside Mr. Bolton."

Roose shrugged and allowed them in. Once they were all in the living room the officer cleared his throat.

"I'm afraid your son has kidnapped Mr. Stark's younger daughter…"

"I was under the impression she ran away." Roose interjected.

Eddard glared. "Yes, but while she was away, Ramsay kidnapped her."

"What interest would my son possibly have with this girl?" Roose replied before shrugging. "Moreover, I cannot help you, I don't know where he is, Ramsay is an adult, he doesn't keep me informed of his daily movements and I've not heard from him for a month."

The officer sighed. "All the same Mr. Bolton, we'll still need you to answer some questions. Also; we'd like permission to search your son's bedroom."

Roose pursed his lips. "By all means; but I honestly can't see why you think my son is responsible for this. Anyway his bedroom is locked, I don't know where the key is…And I will not have you knocking it down, everything in this house is too expensive to replace."

The officer nodded slowly and the questioning began while the Stark's stepped through to the kitchen.

"What should we do?" Gendry asked. "We need to find out where the key to this creep's room is."

"I know where it is." They turned in the direction of the voice and Rickon stiffened.

It was Ellyn.

Ellyn smirked as she stepped into the kitchen; as usual she was dressed with the sole purpose of drawing male attention. In this instance a tartan mini skirt that barely covered her backside and white tank-top that showed a lot of cleavage along with red flats.

"What do you mean?" Robb asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Ellyn smiled. "Just what I said; I know where Ramsay's key is. I have it…and I'll give to you, if you give me a kiss Rickon."

There was outrage from the others as Rickon glared.

"Ellyn; this isn't the time for this nonsense…Arya's life's in danger."

"Too bad Rickon." She replied. "That's the offer, take it or leave it."

Before anyone could do anything however an idea suddenly occurred to Rickon.

"Fine, if that's what you want Ellyn; let's go." As he heard his mother begin to protest he turned and whispered to her. "Relax mum, I know what I'm doing, trust me."

Catelyn whispered to the others and they stayed silent as Rickon approached Ellyn who was smiling widely. She held of the key and waited for her kiss; she felt this would be the moment she finally claimed Rickon. Rickon gently took the key from her and then, bringing her crashing down, kissed her hand and stepped back.

Rickon then stepped back and handed the key to his father, smirking as he informed Ellyn. "You said a kiss, but you didn't say where."

Ellyn let out a noise like a mouse being stepped on as they hurried past her. They then informed the police about the key and soon hurried up to investigate.

They were shocked by what they found; the room was relatively normal, except for the wall directly opposite the door, which seemed to be some kind of perverse shrine to Arya. It had various pictures of her at different times throughout the last several months, since the dinner party. It was clear Ramsay had indeed been stalking Arya, even after she ran away. The latest photos showed a girl with short blue hair, but Catelyn's eyes saw what any mother would see; the girl was indeed her daughter.

"Mr. Bolton, could you step up here please." The officer called down.

With a heavy sigh Roose came upstairs. His gaze soon fell on the shrine and for the first time since Eddard had known him, he looked shocked.

"That…this…" He groaned. "I knew Ramsay wasn't…completely right in the head; but to be dangerous like this…"

The officer in charge of the investigation nodded. "I think it's best you told us everything now Mr. Bolton, we best…we best return downstairs. We'll get an evidence team down here to check over all this."

Roose nodded and they headed downstairs again. Soon he and Ellyn, sitting next to each other on the couch, began answering the police's questions, taking the matter a lot more seriously; even Ellyn had been shocked by the shrine. The Starks all gathered nearby while Gendry stood a little further back, next to the dining room table. All of them praying silently that they would find Arya.

Arya choked and gagged as Ramsay forced his dick down her throat again; this was the third time he had raped her; the second time she had been sodomized and forced to suck his cock. This time she was forced to suck his cock again, after being sodomized and raped yet again. Every time he tried to rape her she resisted and every time he would twist her nipples, maul her breasts with his teeth, spank her breasts with his belt or burn her with cigarettes until she was unable to resist anymore. This time had been no different; she still felt the pain. Also, adding to the pain and humiliation was the knowledge he was filming her torment, although his face never appeared on camera. He was intending to upload it as internet porn, so everyone would know what had happened to her, but having it portrayed in a way that made her seem like a willing participant and her resistance being simply acting. Ramsay released in her mouth and she was forced to swallow before having her mouth taped shut again.

"I'll be back soon love." He told her as he roughly rubbed her right breast. "I'll get some food, behave yourself and don't struggle, and maybe I'll give you some."

With that he stood up and left; as she hoped however, he had left his phone behind. He bragged about using her phone, or rather, her pre-paid phone to text Gendry and claim to be her breaking up with him. Time to take a leaf out of his book, if she could just move enough.

She didn't care about Ramsay's threats or warnings; she immediately started struggling against her bonds; she had already discovered how strong they were.

'_There's no way I'm getting free of these without help.'_ She noted to herself and immediately tried to put her plan into action.

If she could just move the cuffs along the bars of the bedframe enough, she could reach his phone. It was slow and, at times, painful work. She had to keep stopping and listening in case he was coming back. After what felt like so long she succeeded, she grasped his phone, she manuvered back into a more comfortable position, one where the cuffs didn't feel they were pulling her wrists or ankles out of place. She had to make sure however she could see the screen and could reach the keypad. She opened a new text message, put Gendry's number as the one to receive the text and immediately began typing the message. She finally finished the message and sent it; the message indicated it was sent just as she heard Ramsay's footsteps approaching. She quickly exited all the menu's and managed to put the phone back on the small table next to bed, just in time. While he hadn't noticed her 'antics' with his phone, Ramsay could tell she had been struggling, against his warning. He sighed and approached her, Arya waited tensely for her 'punishment to being. Without even saying a word he turned Arya over and she began screaming into the tape as he used his belt to brutally spank her like some naughty little kid.

'_Just bear it; Gendry has to get that message.'_ She told herself. _'I just have to endure.'_

She felt strongly that her plan worked, that Gendry would soon arrive to help her.

Gendry sighed; from the sounds of the questioning and the reactions of the Starks, Ramsay had been very busy and was clearly stalking Arya for some time, just waiting for a chance to strike. As he sat listening his phone vibrated in his pocket, he pulled it out, it wasn't a number he recognized, so it was Arya's phone, which he had given to her father, or her pre-paid phone either. Curious and wary he checked the text message and froze, there it was, right there, all in lowercase, confirming his hopes.

"_gendry _[he read] _it's me, arya, i'm being held captive in the old abandoned saw mill in king's landing by ramsay, the one we pass going to work, please hurry, i need your help."_

He couldn't believe it; either Arya managed to send the message to him, or it was a trap by Ramsay. However he felt strongly that Arya was indeed at the abandoned saw mill; he knew the building well. He passed it every day on his way to work and with Arya he even explored the building too, getting to know the interior too. He quickly made up his mind; despite knowing he should tell the police, he didn't want to leave Arya trapped with Ramsay for any longer. He allowed the screen to power down, if someone checked his phone, it would immediately show the message. He quickly scribbled a note, informing whoever checked the phone to turn the screen on; he attached the note to the phone and laid it on the dining room table. He then slipped out of the house and got his car, starting it up and driving off to King's Landing as fast as he could legally go.

'_Just hold on Arry, I'm coming.'_ He thought determined to save the girl he loved.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it. Gendry is on the way, will he be able to save Arya before Ramsay hurts her again, wait and see. Read and review please.


	34. Chapter 34

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 34 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Glad you liked that :)  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; well, like he said, he doesn't want Arya to suffer longer than necessary.  
rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; Yup, he certainly is and yes, it's good she has, now she just needs to endure long enough for Gendry to arrive and yeah, it is. Glad you like the Rickon bit; well, wait and see what happens between them :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 34**

Rickon sighed as he listened with the rest of his family; the details Ellyn and her father gave made him feel queasy. He couldn't believe that Ramsay was never truly considered a threat to the public, given how he was described. His behaviour bordered on obsessive and even dangerous. He turned to see how Gendry was taking the news and was shocked to discover he wasn't there. He looked around; nobody else seemed to have noticed yet that Gendry was gone. He walked over to the dining room table; wondering if Gendry left any hint as to where he had gone. It was then he saw Gendry's phone and a note taped to it. He picked up the phone and read to the note; confused he followed the notes instructions and turned the screen on. He froze as he read the text; then finally he turned and hurried over to his parents.

"Mum, dad!" He cried out.

They turned to him. "Rickon, don't interrupt, we…"

He shook his head and continued. "Look, Gendry's gone, he left his phone behind. He got a message from Arya telling him where she was, he's gone there."

They saw the message and soon showed it to the police; soon they were making calls to the police in King's Landing, giving them the information they had. Their main concern being rescuing Arya and hopefully making an arrest, they were also concerned what Gendry might do, hoping that he wouldn't do anything too drastic.

Meanwhile Arya groaned; the pain from the spanking she had endured was still fresh. She wasn't sure how much time had passed but Ramsay refused to stop spanking her until her ass was bright red and burning hot. She had been left alone again and prayed that Gendry had received her message; she just hoped he'd be here soon. She heard the footsteps and tensed; she recognized them by now, Ramsay was coming back.

'_Well I don't care what he does to me anymore; I'm not giving him what he wants…I just have to hold on.'_ She thought; her determination giving her fresh strength.

Ramsay entered the room smirking; she glared back at him, with as much dignity as she could muster, being tied to a bed, gagged and completely naked.

"Well love, I think it's time we had some more fun." He stated as he painfully groped her breasts, a hungry look in his eyes.

He then reached up and ripped the tape off her mouth. She glared at him and growled.

"You're not gonna get away with this; you'll see."

Ramsay shook his head. "Spare me your empty threats; I didn't take your gag off so you could talk. There's only one use that pretty mouth of yours serves now."

However Arya clamped her mouth shut and kept her lips pressed tightly together, refusing to let him force his dick into her mouth again. Ramsay glared at this and suddenly grabbed her throat.

"Open your mouth, now!" He yelled angrily, she still refused. "Open it or I'll break your fucking jaw, slut!"

At that moment there was a loud crash and Ramsay leapt off the bed and turned, Arya looked down, both towards the door.

The door had been kicked open, it hung by only one of its hinges. Standing in the doorway, glaring, the rage practically coming off him in waves, was Gendry. Gendry stepped into the room as Ramsay glared.

"You…" He spat. "What the fuck are you doing here? You can't take her from me…"

He began stalking towards Gendry; Arya froze when she saw the glint of a knife in Ramsay's hand. Had Gendry seen it, she wanted to warn him, but before she could say anything it all happened.

Ramsay stopped in front of Gendry and yelled. "She's mine…MINE!"

He lashed out with the knife but Gendry caught his arm and jerked it to the side. The knife flew out of Ramsay's hand and skittered away out of reach. Gendry then spoke, his voice low and sounding dangerous.

"Shut up, don't you dare treat her like that. Arya's not an animal or an object, she's a person, she's not yours, she's not anyone's, she doesn't belong to anyone…Got that!"

With that he suddenly punched Ramsay, letting go of his arm at the same time, knocking him to the ground. Ramsay grunted in pain as Gendry stepped further into the room. Arya was shocked; she had never seen Gendry this angry before. She also felt amazed that he was this angry due to how some creep had treated her. Gendry looked down at Ramsay, there was no pity or mercy in his eyes, when he spoke his voice was scarcely above a growl.

"Get up."

Ramsay looked at him confused but then did as he said, glaring as he did so.

Ramsay snarled and lashed out with a kick with his right foot. But Gendry caught his leg and then slammed his elbow down on it. Gendry let go, Arya heard a loud cracking sound and Ramsay fell to the ground, howling in pain. Gendry shook his head; angry as he was, he would never strike a man who was lying helpless on the ground.

"Get up." He growled again.

Ramsay groaned and pulled himself to his feet, favouring his left leg. He was breathing harshly as he looked directly at Gendry. He realized then that he was outmatched in strength, but his pride refused to allow him to give up. He struck a right hook and managed to hit Gendry in the face. But in his injured condition his blow was hardly strong. Gendry's head jerked to the side briefly before he recovered. Gendry responded with a right hook of his own, on that was much stronger and sent Ramsay sprawling face down on the floor. Gendry stepped closer and shook his head.

He then snarled again. "Get up."

"Please, enough." Ramsay choked out.

Gendry shook his head.

"Not so much fun fighting someone who isn't tied up and can fight back is it?"

"She had to learn her place!" Ramsay yelled.

Gendry glowered and pulled Ramsay to his feet. "Learn her place; I told you, she's not an animal or an object."

With that he struck out again, once more knocking Ramsay to the ground.

All the fight had gone out of Ramsay now; he gasped for breath and tried hard to control the pain.

"I'm sorry." He said in a strangled whisper.

Gendry suddenly hauled Ramsay to his feet and gripped him by his shirt, their faces inches apart. "Oh and that fixes everything does it, you piece of shit!?"

"Gendry." Arya's voice broke through his anger as he looked over at her. "Enough, you've got more important things to deal with right now."

As she said the last part she emphasized it, rattling her handcuffs. Gendry nodded and searched Ramsay's pockets; he was unable to resist. Gendry found a third pair of handcuffs and the keys. He pushed Ramsay down so he was sitting at the foot of the bed. Gendry then cuffed his right hand to the bedframe before hurrying to Arya. He quickly removed the handcuffs binding her hands to the bedframe. He briefly noted the angry red marks left on his wrists before she sat up and hugged him tightly.

"I knew you'd make it." She whispered; before leaning back. "Now quickly, let's get outta here."

He smiled and nodded before releasing her legs, noting the same red marks around her ankles. Her first action was to stand up; she suddenly cried out in pain. Before he could do anything however she recovered and forced herself to walk to the bottom of the bed. There was a high pitched scream as Arya kicked Ramsay in the groin before punching him.

"That's what you get creep!" She yelled. "I'd hurt you more, but I think Gendry's already done a good enough job."

Gendry smiled and quickly helped Arya cover herself with a sheet, to save her modesty if they ran into the police.

It soon transpired Arya was in too much pain to walk by herself; so Gendry lifted her up and carried her, leaving Ramsay for the police. Arya sighed and rested her head on Gendry's shoulder as he carried her.

"I still can't believe my plan worked." She said softly. "You actually got the message and made it to save me."

Gendry smiled. "Yeah; it did; I'm just glad I got here…before he did anything worse."

Arya nodded and Gendry escorted her out. When they made it outside they found the police had already surrounded the area. The officer in charge called them over and they both quickly explained the situation. Soon police officers entered the building to arrest Ramsay; Gendry was not charged for assault due to the extenuating circumstances. He also announced his intention to drive Arya to the nearest hospital, Red Keep Hospital. The officer agreed and told them he would inform the hospital of their arrival and call Arya's family to tell them. So Gendry got Arya to his car and, still keeping herself wrapped in the sheet, she managed to get the seatbelt on. Gendry got in the driver's seat and then looked at her.

"You look exhausted." He said softly.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm tired, everything I went through…it just…I guess I'm just so, drained."

Gendry smiled and nodded. "You can rest, it's all okay now."

With that he started the car and drove off. They drove in silence for a while before Arya smiled and turned to Gendry.

"I love you." She said; her voice softer than even she had ever heard it.

Gendry tensed, surprised.

He then smiled.

"I love you too." He replied.

She leaned back in her seat and drifted off; Gendry however was deep in thought.

'_That's the first time she's ever said that to me.'_ He thought to himself; however he shook his head. _'I shouldn't look too much into it…She's probably only saying it because I saved her…Still, it was nice to hear.'_

He smiled as he drove her to the hospital, relieved that finally, the nightmare was over. Meanwhile, the Stark's had returned to their residence and were waiting anxiously for news. Finally the phone rang and Ned quickly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Stark; we just heard from the police in King's Landing." The officer explained. "They've apprehended Ramsay Bolton; your daughter is safe, her boyfriend saved her, he took to Red Keep Hospital."

Ned let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, we'll head there right now."

He hung up and turned to the family.

"Arya's safe, Gendry's taken her to Red Keep Hospital, let's go and see her."

They all eagerly agreed and hurried to their cars, ready to drive down to King's Landing to finally reunite and reconcile with Arya.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	35. Chapter 35

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 35 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well she's safe now :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yup, well, read on to find out.  
SweetImagination15: Yup I did, yeah well, Rickon called her bluff and humiliated her, well, like she said, Gendry did enough damage for the both of them. Exactly, hence why Gendry is a bit doubtful, but, well, wait and see. Here you go, enjoy :)  
rubini25: Yup, she's safe, well, he was badly messed up, thanks to Gendry, I should probably mention Gendry's first punch broke Ramsay's nose and his last one knocked a few teeth out, as well as the broken leg and other injuries. I personally felt the cold hard rage was more intimidating, well, here you go :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 35**

Gendry leaned back in his seat; he was waiting for Arya to wake up, the doctors had examined her, treated her injuries and promised to return later with more news. There was one fear, nagging at Gendry and the Starks, but they would have to wait for the doctor's return to get their answer. He looked up, he was sitting in a chair further back, allowing Arya's family to sit around her bed. He knew they needed this, that Arya would need it, it was time for them to reunite and fix things. Gendry smiled; after everything that happened, he realized he had misjudged the Starks. They were good people who looked out for their own, they truly loved and cared for Arya and only wanted what was best for her; even if it took them a while to see what exactly was best for her. He could tell her family were waiting impatiently and worriedly for her to wake up and he was relieved when finally her eyes opened. Arya felt herself waking up, to her relief she no longer felt the pain. When she opened her eyes she saw she was in hospital and knew her injuries had been treated. She guessed that as well as possible pain medication was the reason she didn't feel the pain anymore. It was then she became aware of her family sitting around her.

Before she could react her mother, tears running down her face, hugged her tightly.

"Arya, oh Arya…" She gasped out. "My baby girl, you're safe."

It was in that moment that Arya was struck with the full weight of how she missed her mother. The feeling of being protected and the way her words could sooth her pain. She hadn't felt that in a long time, even before she ran away, but there it was. There was however a problem.

"Mum…can't breathe."

Her mother let her go and instead gently held her face. "Sorry; I love you Arya; I'm sorry, for everything. I'm so sorry."

Arya knew she should still be wary around her mother, but she couldn't bring herself to still feel that way. She had missed her family so much.

"I love you too mum." She said softly.

Her mother smiled softly. "I'm just glad you're okay, everyone's here now."

As she said that she let go of Arya and sat back down. Arya briefly saw and smiled at Gendry before her father stepped forwards. Her father also hugged her, although his didn't make her feel like the air was being squeezed out of her. Arya was shocked to see tears in his eyes too. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen her father cry, it must've been so long ago.

"Arya…" His voice was startlingly shaky. "I was so worried about you."

She smiled as she returned the hug. "I'm okay dad, I'm sorry I worried you."

Her father smiled and gently kissed the top of her head before finally letting her go; relief evident on his face.

It dawned on Arya that things had changed; Gendry was sitting not too far away after all. He was here, with her family and nobody was raising any objection or issue. She dared to hope, maybe, just maybe they had finally accepted him. Robb then came forward and hugged her, almost lifting her out of bed.

"Robb, be careful." Catelyn cried.

Robb gently put Arya down. "Sorry mum."

He let her go and sighed.

"Arya, please, never run away like that again." He told her gently.

She smiled.

"Okay Robb, I promise. Sorry I made you worry."

Robb laughed. "Apology accepted little sister. Love you."

He hugged her again; she returned the hug, relieved. As they pulled back she saw Sansa, trying to hide behind their father.

"Sansa."

Sansa stepped out; trembling before suddenly she broke down, her words coming out rapidly.

"I'm so sorry Arya, I never should've said anything…I just, I mean…"

Arya shook her head. "It's okay Sansa; I guess…I guess you could say, what's done is done, no point in dwelling on it."

Sansa nodded, looking relieved. Arya knew, in spite of Sansa's part in revealing her relationship with Gendry, that getting angry wouldn't solve anything. Besides as she saw, it looked like everything was okay now and she didn't want to further alienate her family, not now when she needed them most.

Her smile widened as she returned to her younger brothers; particularly Bran, the one who stood by her no matter what in this incident.

"Hey little brother." She greeted him teasingly, the way she used to greet him when they were kids.

Bran seemed to realize that and stifled a laugh as he replied in a similar joking tone. "Arya."

Arya blinked, surprised at something she hadn't noticed before; Bran's voice had been slowly getting deeper, she just hadn't noticed how much and how grown up he sounded now.

She sighed. "I'm sorry for everything I put you through with this…And I wanted to thank you, for being so understanding.

"Anytime." He replied; she smiled and nodded before then adding.

"How's Meera?"

She was curious; Bran had told her about Meera during their phone calls. She was anxious to meet the young woman who had captured her nerdy brother's heart.

Bran smiled. "She's good; I hope you can meet her soon." He paused and then smiled wider as he added. "I'm not the baby brother Arya, Rickon is."

Arya laughed. "I said little brother remember."

Bran nodded as Arya turned to Rickon who was scowling, no doubt to the reminder of being referred to as the baby brother.

Arya noted Rickon seemed angry at her, in spite of his relief for her safety. She understood, he must've felt betrayed, that she had run off and not said a word to him, yet confided in Bran.

"I'm sorry Rickon, I…" She began, wondering how she could explain this.

"No." He replied simply shaking his head.

Arya sighed, she knew, like her, Rickon could hold a grudge when he got angry. However their mother then intervened and Rickon sighed.

He turned to Arya and shook his head. "You didn't tell me anything Arya; I wouldn't have minded about your relationship."

Arya nodded slowly.

"I know, I'm sorry about that…but, it's just, you're not exactly the best at keeping secrets Rickon."

"I am." He interjected.

This however prompted laughter from the whole family with them all pointing out various times Rickon failed to keep a secret. By the end Rickon's face matched his hair and he groaned.

Finally he conceded. "Okay, maybe you've got a point, but I wouldn't have let this slip, you should've trusted me Arya."

Arya shook her head and laughed again.

"Sorry Rickon; I guess it's just hard for me to stop seeing you as the baby brother."

Rickon scowled again but soon smiled and relaxed.

Arya let out a relieved sigh, all her family were here, better still, they were happy to see her and seemed to have accepted her and Gendry. It was then she noticed an extra face in the crowd; she looked then did a double take.

'_No, no it can't be, he's dead…but, he's right here in front of me…I…'_

She looked at the others who all smiled and stepped back, Arya tried to get out of bed but found herself to unsteady on her feet. Jon however stepped over and hugged her, she let herself lean against him as she returned the hug.

"You're alive…" She gasped. "But…?"

He shook his head. "A story for another day, we're just glad you're alive little cousin; you scared us all half to death."

"I'm sorry." She whispered; Jon smiled and was about to pull away. "No, please, just a little longer."

He nodded and continued to hug her, she still couldn't believe it, Jon was alive, suddenly she felt better than ever. Slowly however a wave of exhaustion overcame her and she sighed.

"I missed you."

Jon gently kissed the top of her head. "I missed you to Arya."

She smiled and let the exhaustion take her and she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up again she noticed the room seemed empty, certainly the area around her bed was. She slowly, carefully pulled herself into a seating position. Her family were indeed no longer in the room. Gendry however was still there, he smiled when he saw her sit up.

"It's alright, your family just went to get something to eat; they haven't touched a bite since they came here." He explained; seeing her expression he quickly added. "Don't worry about me, I had something earlier."

She nodded; smiling as Gendry took her hand. She suddenly felt nervous, there was a question nagging at her mind.

Finally she took a deep breath and asked. "Did they, did the doctors…?"

He nodded and she waited tensely, he then explained.

"No permanent damage and, you're not pregnant."

Her body slumped in relief; she then pondered for a moment before admitting.

"I meant it you know Gendry." She told him softly, when he looked confused she confirmed. "I meant what I said, I love you."

He looked surprised and then smiled widely before kissing her. "I love you too."

She smiled as they parted for air. "My family?"

He nodded.

"They've accepted us now; everything's gonna be okay."

She let out a happy sigh and they kissed again, softly this time. Gendry smiled sweetly at her and then explained.

"You should get as much rest as you can, it'll help."

She nodded and lay back down, he stayed by her side. She relaxed, the storm had passed, the nightmare was now over.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, just one more chapter to go, read and review please.


	36. Chapter 36

**Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts**

Chapter 36 of my Game of Thrones story, the last chapter enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, glad you liked her reunion with Jon and the Catelyn and Rickon scenes too :)  
Wolfgirl2013:Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

* * *

**Chapter 36**

Arya Stark smiled to herself as she walked down the school corridor. After recovering in hospital she returned home to Winterfell with her family; not long after that Gendry moved north, getting a mechanic's job there. Much to her relief her instincts had been right and her family had accepted her and Gendry. Due to missing her last three exams Arya had enrolled in summer school to make up for what she had missed. She had managed to pass and now here she was back at school, at the end of her first day in junior year. She had changed her appearance again, keeping her hair short, but no longer dying it completely. Instead she dyed streaks into her hair, in this case red. It was a strange sight; seeing Arya Stark smiling at school. But she was indeed happier than ever.

'_Although...There's always the horrors that await me at night.' _She thought to herself.

Although they were less frequent now she suffered nightmares every night of her captivity and of that monster Ramsay Bolton. Luckily her family was always there to help her through it; especially Sansa. Arya didn't know how exactly but somehow, everything that happened had made her and Sansa closer than ever. While Robb and her parents had small lingering doubts about Gendry; Sansa, Bran and Rickon had no such doubts, they all gave the relationship their whole-hearted support. Finally Arya reached her locker and quickly put her books away, she closed the locker, shook her head at the creeps who had been trying to look up her skirt; unaware she still wore shorts underneath, and headed for the exit.

As she headed for the exit Arya noted a familiar crowd; apart from the ones that graduated, it was Sansa's old friends, the ones who had always given her a hard time. Arya rolled her eyes, they couldn't be more obvious if they tried; standing in that precise location like that; they were waiting for her. Arya tried to keep a straight face; she was above being concerned about their words now. But the thought of how pathetically obvious they were being brought her close to laughter. As she drew close one of them blocked her path.

"Where do you think you're going, Stark?" She taunted; clearly expecting Arya to scowl or threaten her.

Arya merely smiled. "The parking lot, where else would I be going."

That made her opponent frown, she shook her head. "You shouldn't even be here; honestly look at you…"

"Bye." Arya said, cutting across the girl and stepped around her before walking on.

This made the group exchange looks and cries of outrage before walking after her, continually making comments which Arya ignored; she was too busy thinking more about how things had changed. One of the comments did catch her attention however.

"To top it off, no guy would ever give you a second glance. You can't get a boyfriend, you somehow cheated your way back into school." There was a pause before they added. "You would've been better off staying under whatever rock you went to hide in."

Again it was all Arya could do to keep from laughing at the absurdity of it all.

She didn't care what they thought about her managing to get into junior year, not when she knew the truth of it. Also, that attempted cruel joke about a boyfriend.

'_If they only knew.'_ She thought gleefully.

Deciding to continue ignoring them completely she instead focused more on how her life had changed. A few weeks ago Jon and Ygritte had to return to the army; this time however Arya took it a lot better, she guessed it was because of how much things had changed for the family and the fact she had Gendry now. Robb had returned to Riverrun, promising to come up with Jeyne for dinner one night. Sansa was going to Highgarden University and would be staying with Willas and the Tyrell's while she was there. Arya allowed herself to smile as she remembered the last fencing competition she had been to, three days ago. In contrast to the ones before, apart from her father, Robb and Sansa who couldn't make it, her family and Gendry all turned up to watch her. Her younger brothers were both happy together with their girlfriends; she had met Meera and they became friends almost instantly. Bran had said he didn't know if he should be happy or worried about that. Arya stepped outside, still ignoring the girls following and trying to put her down as usual. Yet when she emerged she stopped, and so did they, both she and the group were silent.

Arya couldn't believe it; standing there in the parking lot, leaning against his car, was Gendry. He had clearly come to pick her up from school; she felt his timing couldn't be better. As always, around Gendry, her heart sped up slightly and she smiled. Luckily her detractors couldn't see or they likely would've commented, as it was however she heard them whispering.

"Whoa, who is he?" One asked.

"Don't know." Another replied before adding. "But wow, he's hot."

A third then butted in. "Hey, I saw him first; I get dibs."

Arya rolled her eyes. _'Boy are they in for a shock.'_

Not wanting to spoil this perfect chance she carefully glanced over her shoulder, they were all looking towards Gendry as they continued to whisper. She knew immediately this meant they would see her when she carried out her plan. So, leaving them to their whispering she turned her head back and smiled to Gendry, who smiled back. This prompted fresh whispering and vain hope from the group. Arya then began to walk over to Gendry.

She could hear them whispering. "What the hell, what does Stark think she's doing? Yeah, like he's gonna even look at her."

She stopped in front of Gendry; still smiling. Without hesitating, and drawing more scandalized reactions from her detractors; Gendry stepped forwards and hugged, her, almost lifting her off the ground and they kissed.

They parted and he smiled.

"Hey, thought I'd give you a lift." He remarked casually; seemingly unaware of the commotion they had caused, although the glint in his eyes suggested otherwise.

Arya smiled back. "Thanks; let's go."

He nodded and they got into his car; Arya couldn't help but smile to that group. The girls were all shocked and some were clearly enraged; Arya found it all hilarious. She settled back in the seat as Gendry then drove out of the parking lot. Things had changed drastically; around this time last summer so much had begun to change and her entire family had been swallowed by the storm. But now, finally they were all through it and were stronger because of it, the past was behind them now, it was time they looked forwards, to the future.

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End of chapter and of story, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


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